By: Yi Qi
Eagle Scout Dominique Claseman in Minnesota is being praised by his hometown of Olivia after he raised more than $77,000 and built a veteran’s memorial for his Eagle Scout Project.
He wanted to make this memorial not only because the community did not have one, but also because his dad was a veteran. He began the project at 15 years old and completed it a few weeks close to his 17th birthday. When he began, he started by handing out information papers and worked with groups of people who thought this was helpful to raise money for the project. His fundraising started with a goal of $15,000.
Claseman started with a plan to fill a large hole and build a simple memorial. But then the whole community donated much more that he would have expected. So Claseman came up with a new design with 280 stone pieces with name carved in them leading to three flagpoles and a place to sit, something his neighbours told him they really liked his efforts and appreciated it.
His father served in the Iraq army, and his dad wore his army boots, to meet his son’s require-ments, to make 21 footprints in the memorial’s wet cement. After all, his community did not have a veteran memorial.
When the memorial was open, many people came to look at the works of Dominique. “There’s one person that came up to me and they said that they are so happy to see this,” Claseman said. “They’ve been living in this town for 10 to 15 years and they were waiting for something like this to even happen.”
Many people were so pleased. His mom and dad were very proud and his father, Mark Jurgensen, said “[i]t was nice being able to be part of that. Being a veteran myself, getting that peace out there for other veterans, that their families have a place to go to remember their service or re-member their loved ones.”
Dominique Claseman has made a huge impact on the neighbours, his dad, and all the others who risked their life to save us and to help give us freedom.
Links:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjltPzFkbj5AhVQjYkEHY-XATEQwqsBegQIEx-AB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kare11.com%2Fvideo%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fland-of-10000-stories%2Fa-15-year-old-decided-his-town-needed-a-veterans-memorial-he-raised-77000-and-built-one%2F89-ed65e39e-e908-4f77-8585-db2ca9940522&usg=AOvVaw2PhI7euL07bsTU0FUDIWug