Colorado Springs Veterans Memorial
In the tallest section of this park is a spire made up of five pillars representing five branches on the military, created by Architect Gordon Sweet.
Located beside Prospect Lake, this large park hosts many memorials to Veterans. A granite pillar displays three men who earned their Medal of Honor in WWI, WWII and the Vietnam War. Another monument for the Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) in memory of the six airmen who paid the ultimate sacrifice. An angled pillar supports a bronze statue of an anchor wrapped around the earth with an eagle perched on top.
Created in 1968, the park has added many memorable monuments such as stone monuments for the Purple Heart, Special Forces, Freedom Memorials, Korean Ware, POW/MIA, Vietnam War, Aerospace Defense, Submarine Service Air Controllers and Aviators. A separate large white anchor is dedicated to the Sailors and Marines. A triangular monument stands for those that served in the Air Force from the Pikes Peak Region.
A large granite memorial honors the “Buffalo Soldiers.” In the 1860s there were segregate African American soldiers who fought alongside the white soldiers. They assisted in helping control the Native Americans, patrolled borders and routes to capture cattle rustlers and protect the settlers coming into the Plains. The Native Americans called them the “Buffalo Soldiers.”
Two war dogs sporting protection vests were cast in bronze and placed on a black granite memorial. This honors the war dogs for their heroic sacrifice of saving American lives during WWII, Korean War and Global War on Terrorism. Their jobs were to guard, patrol, scout, search, track, detect explosives and devices, mines, narcotics, and work as messengers, a sled pack, and in special ops.
A monument honors the soldiers of the 104th Infantry Division in WWII. Dubbed as “The Timberwolves” they were to eliminate the Nazi Powers. In 1945, the soldiers overran concentration camps where they discovered 750 weak, sick and starving prisoners of war (POW) who had been left behind. They were found among 3,000 POW unburied corpses. The Timberwolves transported the prisoners out to be treated for their health and welfare and coordinated efforts to have the dead soldiers buried.