"It's a way to give veterans the thanks they deserve!"

Dominique Claseman has several family members who have served in the military. Saddened that his town didn't have a veterans' memorial, the Eagle Scout took on the project and had one built!

- Kellie B. Gormly

Dominique Claseman and his Eagle Scout troop were helping to clean up a local park in his Olivia, Minnesota, hometown when something struck the then-15-year-old. Why isn’t there a veterans’ memorial here? Dominique has several family members who have served in the military. He knew it was the same for many other residents.

Suddenly, Dominique got an idea. He was in the process of choosing his Eagle Scout project. “I’m going to have a veterans’ memorial built,” he told his parents, Mark, who was also Dominique’s scoutmaster, and Wendy Jurgensen.

“Great idea!” they exclaimed and signed on to help him.

After exploring veteran memorials in other towns, Dominique made a rough sketch of a design. His grandfather then made architectural drawings, which Dominique presented to the town’s mayor, Jon Hawkinson.