SPOKANE, Wash. — A moving display outside the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena this Memorial Day honored the men and women from Washington state who gave their lives for our country.
The third annual “Boots on the Ground” event surrounded the “Illuminating Courage” memorial, designed by Kathy Swehla.
The memorial pays tribute to post-9/11 service members whose names are etched into the monument. The memorial included 627 pairs of boots, each representing a Vietnam or post-9/11 fallen hero, serving as a powerful reminder of the families left behind.
“It’s to illuminate the courage of the soldiers that volunteered to serve our country—and those lives that are lost,” Swehla said.
Swehla, who designed the memorial with grieving families in mind, said the loss is still fresh for many.
“I knew that these families, the ‘Gold Star‘ families, were dealing with very recent grief since the names on here are all post-9/11,” she said. “So, it was very recent and I knew that people would be grieving right on this spot.”
Keirsten Lyons, director of the Washington State Fallen Heroes Project and one of the organizers, said the weekend has been emotional for many visitors.
“It’s been a pretty powerful weekend. We’ve been able to talk to a lot of people and hear a lot of stories and hear a lot of emotion,” Lyons said.
Both Swehla and Lyons have personal connections to military service and loss. Lyons noted that many of the fallen were just 19 or 20-years-old.
“They didn’t have enough time to make all the memories that you hope a lifetime makes. The one thing that we can make sure we do is remember each of them and I feel like that’s what we are doing this weekend,” she said.
Swehla said the “Boots on the Ground” display makes the sacrifice personal.
“You can really, really see the names and see the faces of all the people who had such courage,” she said.
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