The neighbors on the wall: stories at Adams County's veterans memorial

The gray bow of a battleship reaching into the water is what catches your eye first. At the Adams County Veterans Memorial, the county built a near life-size replica of the WWII battleship USS Colorado jutting into Mann-Nyholt Lake, and it does its job: you slow down and walk over.

But the part that tends to hold people is quieter. Among the marble monuments to each military branch and the sandblasted plaques of presidential quotes, the county placed a story wall. Per the county, it carries accounts of soldiers’ lives that were submitted by Adams County residents. So these are not famous names from a textbook. They are someone’s grandfather, a neighbor’s uncle, a name that may match a street near where you live.

There is also a concrete map set into the entryway that, the county says, points to other veterans’ memorials around the county, in case you want to make a day of it.

The memorial sits inside Riverdale Regional Park at 10100 Henderson Rd. in Brighton, so it pairs easily with a walk by the river, the museum, or a round of disc golf. It is an outdoor county park feature, so plan around daylight and weather. For grounds details and what else is on the memorial, start with the official Adams County Veterans Memorial page.