Memorial Day 2010.

We discovered The Highground near Neillsville, WI while searching for a rest area between Minneapolis and Stevens Point a week ago today.  As described on the organization’s website:

It is the mission of The Highground to honor Veterans and their families and to educate about the cost of things – the human cost.

It is the vision of The Highground to honor human courage and sacrifice wherever it is displayed, without either denying or glorifying the pain and suffering of war or of life.

It is important to recognize that The Highground is not a war memorial. It is a Veterans Memorial Park that pays tribute to the Dead, and honors the Survivors, their service, and their sacrifices. It also pays tribute to the people who supported them when they were away and upon their return.

And, so we explored for a few minutes:

Visiting the Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Tribute and Wisconsin Counties United in Service (pictured above), the Gold Star Tribute, the National Native American Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Korean Veterans Tribute made sense in advance of Memorial Day.

I’m glad we spent those few extra minutes taking in all the scenes of The Highground.