With great joy, I am thrilled to share that my plans for a memorial dedicated to Gold Star Families have been officially approved.
This memorial will offer Gold Star families a place to come together, pay tribute, and remember their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice. Moreover, the memorial will stand as an educational beacon in our community, highlighting the profound sacrifices made in defense of our freedom.
It’s an amazing location here in Alaska offering stunning panoramic views of both Gold Star Peak and Mount POW/MIA. The site is located between the two most populated communities in the state, at Reflections Lake. I’m happy to say the monument will also be ADA accessible serving untold numbers of visitors.
“On behalf of The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, I am pleased to inform you that your project nomination, Knik River Wayside and Gold Star Families Memorial has been accepted for award.”
It’s been a long five years of speeches, presentations, letters, phone calls, hearings, tours, fundraisers, including several setbacks, but I always kept my head-up, refusing to accept defeat. I didn’t allow petty politics to get in the way of what’s right and what’s owed to our nation’s Gold Stars.
It was my promise to so very many that my vision and dreams would become a reality. I’ll never forget standing at the proposed site with visiting Gold Star Father Dave Friedrich telling him the very same. Dave rode his motorcycle all the way from North Carolina in 2019 to honor his son Travis and to see Gold Star Peak.
Stay tuned, as it will still be a bit before it’s started and complete…but for now, it is APPROVED!