In Clayton, New Mexico there is a veterans Memorial at 118 Smokey Bear Blvd.  It commemorates local soldiers who died in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

Originally created by the Clayton Garden Club in the early 1980s, this small, triangular park features four “Battlefied Crosses” using the boots, rifles, and helmets from each conflict.  There is a flagpole for the United States flag, one for the New Mexico flag, and one for the POW/MIA flag.  A metal cut-out shows a soldier kneeling befor a battlefield cross.  A bench was donated by the Sacred Heart Church.

Sculptor Jim Curry, a local high school teacher, designed the four sculptures.  He cast them at Clovis Community College. Time passed, and so did the members of the Garden Club. The Memorial, unattended, fell into disrepair.  The flowers that had been planted there wilted and died.

Navy Veteran Robert Drumm decided he should do something about it, and he has been tending to the park, unpaid, for the last six years. He has repaired the sprinklers, pulled the weeds, added two flagpoles, gotten spotlights for the flags, put up small flags on Memorial Day, etc. And if that isn’t enough, he also help raise about $7,000 per year to put wreaths on the graves of local veterans as part of Wreaths Across America.  This year, it is scheduled for December 19.

You can help Robert Drum and donate to the Clayton, NM, Wreaths Across America at: https://tinyurl.com/ClaytonNMwreaths  Wreaths cost $17 each, and can be customized.     Images by Mark Finley