(Veteran's) Living Memorial Sculpture Garden, Weed

5/28/14

LZ Wall covered in names (Mt. Shasta is the background)

You could easily miss this place if you weren't looking for it, which would really be unfortunate! A small sign along the highway north of Weed tells you there is something further down a small road. And it's really something worth stopping to see! I can't believe a memorial this cool exists on 136 acres of land in such a remote area. My husband found places for us to stop on our drive from Concord, CA to Bend, OR and this was definitely one of the neatest things we saw.




The garden is a tribute to those who lost their lives in war.  The "living" part of the garden is the tens of thousands of trees planted by loving volunteers. The sculptures are really great. Most of them stand very tall. They are titled on slates independent of the sculpture, and relate to the many different types of people involved in war: the soldiers, the nurses, the ones left behind, the opponents, etc.

The Nurses

You can drive around the garden or talk a nice, long walk.  At the front entrance a tall wall with metal helicopters sits with a (growing) list of lost military lives.  Every Memorial and Veteran's Days names are added. We happened to make this stop Memorial weekend, a couple days before Memorial Day.  I wish we had been there on May 26th instead of May 22nd.




In the distance, behind the wall, there is a clear and direct view of Mt. Shasta. Beautiful, snow-capped Mt. Shasta, in a beautiful treasure-filled tribute garden.