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A Place of Honor, Eden, ID (2026)

03/25/2026

PLACE OF HONOR
Part 4.

The third element of the project is the writing of the stories of the wars. At the Legion meeting it was stated that young people today do not know the history of the wars. I soon discovered that “ old “ people, like me, do not know the history of the wars either.

First I got a library card from the Jerome and Twin Falls Libraries and invested in stock at Barnes and Noble. On the internet, I found the websites for the war museums that had many of the stories of the wars. The WW II museum is in New Orleans.
Sharon and I visited the air Museum at Hill AFB in Ogden, where her father finished his Army Career. We also visited the air museum at Boeing field in Seattle. At Hill AFB is a B-17. My uncle Otto was a rear gunner in the belly of the B-17 on bombing missions over Germany in WW II. { pictured below] . The museum had large displays of the aircraft used in the wars and expanded stories about each war. We found Idaho people mentioned in the stories. [ I will post later about these Idaho servicemen].

One thing I found about visiting with Veterans is that many do not want to talk about their involvement in the war, especially those who served on the front lines. My brother Gerald would not talk about Vietnam, he was a platoon leader in some of the most brutal encounters with the Viet Cong. We found out about his medals after he died. I even had a phone conversation with one of his troops from Minnesota who had learned that Gerald had died. I consider my brother to be a war hero!
I served during the Vietnam War, but I was assigned out of the country, South Korea. [Picture below] Next, I was a helicopter pilot instructor in Texas, and Vietnam hurts for me as 2 of my classmates in helicopter school died in Vietnam and half of my student pilots did not return.

Keep following along for part 5. (Sharing this was on my mind today, we will save the budget story for a rainy day)

-Keith Huettig

03/15/2026

PLACE OF HONOR
Part 3.

The first element of the project was the gathering of Veteran names for the Memorial. The second element is the physical structure. The expansion to 3 wars [initially] really increased the logistics of the project. Now I needed a way to exhibit 3 wars with names as well as telling the story of each war.

I decided that I could do that in one of two ways. One way was to have 3 separate structures or to have one structure with multiple display areas. I had been to visit historical museums, they usually were an old building that was partially restored. That entailed ongoing maintenance , utilities , and usually volunteer personnel and limited exhibit hours. I quickly rejected that concept.

We were visiting Shoshone Falls with guests , during high water. In the Park is 3 exhibit structures, each 3-sided, telling the history of Shoshone Falls, the Snake River and the Agriculture of southern Idaho. A good example of multiple structures, but they were much more elaborate than what I needed. There was a lot of Twin Falls city, county, and Idaho Power investment involved. I later saw a three sided structure with out all of the artwork , much more economically built at the Minidoka Internment Camp.

One day while crossing the Hansen Bridge on the way to Twin Falls I saw a structure that had multiple sign boards, at the scenic outlook. [Pictured below]. It was a 6-sided gazebo like structure. It had 6 posts holding the covering roof. 3 of the posts had 2-sided signboards telling the history of the Hansen Bridge. That became my model of choice. But why not have a signboard on each of the 6 posts?

So I grabbed a tape measure to get the dimensions , to start the budget process. About the third stop to measure, I realized that the Hansen Bridge structure was not handicap accessible, which the Eden City Council insisted we have. [ Eden Council pictured below]. To make it accessible was going to double the amount of concrete needed.

Want insights into the budget and how I acquired funding..? Follow along for part 4.

-Keith Huettig

03/04/2026

Hazelton ww2 memorial

The expanded project had 3 elements to it. One was the physical structure with design, budget and fund raising. Another was the research and writing of the stories of each war and the last was the gathering of names of Veterans that served and had a connection to our community in the eastern portion of Jerome County.
I thought that I had it easy for WW II as I had the picture of the original WW II Memorial, which contained 109 names, including two of my uncles { both names were misspelled]. I also knew that Hazelton had a Memorial [ made of masonry and still standing ] that contained 179 names. I was impressed that 288 had served from our small community. I figured that there would be duplications in the two lists as people tended to move between the communities. But no, no duplications. There were several that were on the list and lived in the wrong community according to where I knew they lived.
I knew a majority of the people on each list, or knew their kids at school. I helped the Eden American Legion put out flags in the Cemetery for Memorial day. I noticed that there were WW II veterans that I did not remember being on the original Memorials list. Upon examinations I realized that these Veterans had moved into the community after the war, probably looking for jobs or a place to start a business, and most had spent the majority of their lives in our community .
Next, I realized that there were names from out at Hunt. After the end of WW II the Japanese internment camp was dismantled and 80 farm sites were distributed to Veterans. Some discovered that farming was not for them and left, but many stayed and became a part of our community. Then we hit the jackpot. We visited the Jerome County Historical Museum, looking for resources to help in our project. Maybe pictures or stories of the war years. What we found was all of the obituaries of Jerome County. We came home with 14 pages of names of Veterans of all wars To date we have near 500 WW II, 50 Korean War and 125 Vietnam War names .

Stay tuned for part 3, next week!
-K.H.

02/28/2026

This marks the beginning of the memorial project.

It started with an original World War II photograph and a memorial that had sadly deteriorated over time. After speaking with the Eden City Council, they approved replacing it. The American Legion also gave their full support, and the project was entrusted to me, Keith Huettig, to lead.

What began as a simple restoration evolved into something much greater. It was suggested that we expand the memorial to also honor those who served in the Korean War, Vietnam War, and the conflicts in the Middle East — each with a story that reflects their sacrifice and service.

What I originally thought would take six months turned into a three-year journey.

I’ll be sharing the progress and story behind it moving forward through dedicated facebook post, be sure to follow along!

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