Nevada County Veterans Working On Memorial Wall
NEVADA COUNTY (CBS13) – Military veterans in Nevada County are building a new memorial in Grass Valley.
The Marine Corps League is looking for the names of anyone who served and has a connection to the area.
"It's to memorialize people that have served in the armed forces honorably," said Gary Miller, with the Gold Country Detachment #885 for the Marine Corps League.
The memorial will join existing memorial walls in Memorial Park in Grass Valley. The league accepting applications for 600 more names to be sponsored by families and etched in granite.
"We're not just reaching out to veterans with the memorial wall," Miller explained. "We're reaching out to members of the community that have veterans in their family."
With 14,000 veterans in the area, Miller is asking for veterans from the Amy, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard and merchant marine to apply.
"They wrote a blank check to the government and said 'you know, I'm here, I'm in for the whole game and my purpose is to defend the freedom that we enjoy in this country," Miller said.
Planning for the new memorial comes as a welcome change for the vets after so much back and forth about pickleball.
"It was a win-win situation for both parties," said Pete Vasilakos, a local army veteran.
He and his fellow veterans were outraged last fall when they learned of the city's plans to build pickleball courts over their memorials. But after a debate, the city decided to leave the trees and plaques in place and move the pickleball courts to a different location. And that old aging tree the city wanted to cut down still stands after being trimmed instead.
"From what I understand, they're going to put benches back in there, they're going to put cameras back in there because we have a lot of homeless people that come through here," Vasilakos said.
After an apology from the city, the veterans are happy to move forward.
"This whole thing with pickleball was kind of a wake-up call," Miller told CBS13. "The city recognizes the veterans, the veterans are now working with the city. I'm very happy that it came out that way!"
Some of the trees are around 100 years old and will have to be cut down eventually. But there is a silver lining. Students from Nevada Union High School will design benches from the wood and they'll be placed near the new wall. The Marine Corps League hopes to finish the wall and host a dedication ceremony on Veterans Day.