Four names being added to Veterans Memorial on May 25

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

 Four names, including that of Tribal Elder Tim Douglass (Marine Corps), will be added to the West Valley Veterans Memorial during the Monday, May 25, ceremony being held on the Grand Ronde Tribal campus.

The six pillars at the West Valley Veterans Memorial feature the names of Tribal and community members from Grand Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan who served in the four major branches of the U.S. military – Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

The addition of the names this year will increase the number of those honored on all pillars to 2,395.

“A day dedicated to commemorating, remembering and paying tribute to the heroes who gave their lives in service to this nation,” an event flyer stated.

The memorial had four pillars for several years, until 2023, when the Tribe received a $33,000 grant from Oregon State Parks to install two new black granite slab pillars at the memorial because the ones containing names of Army and Navy veterans were reaching capacity.

Other names being added for this year’s ceremony include Adam R. Lulay and Tyler Mursch on the Army pillar and Craig A. Haymowicz on the Air Force pillar.

The Memorial Day ceremony will begin with a barbeque being served in the Tribal Community Center by Grand Ronde Tribal Police and the Tribal Emergency Services Department starting at noon. The ceremony will be held outside at the West Valley Veterans Memorial starting at 1 p.m.

The memorial was designed by late Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr., a Vietnam War-era Marine Corps veteran who walked on in August 2022. It features a man and woman dressed in traditional Native clothing standing side by side while reaching for the sky.

This will be the 23^rd Memorial Day celebration at the West Valley Veterans Memorial, which was dedicated in May 2003.

For more information, contact Veterans.SEB@grandronde.org or Molly Leno at 503-983-6790.