By: Tyler Dudek

A teen named Dominique Claseman found out that his hometown of Olivia, Minn

didn’t have a veteran’s memorial, so he decided to make one for his Eagle Scout

project.

Olivia is a small town in Minnesota and many residents are veterans, so building a

veteran memorial is very meaningful.

Mark Jurgensen, Claseman’s father, is not surprised that his son had such an

ambitious plan.

Jurgensen is the Scout leader of his son’s scout troop. When he heard about

Claseman’s plan to build a memorial as his Eagle Scout project, he encouraged

Claseman to go big.

Claseman said “I would picture it like just a walkway with 21 boot steps and

pavers on the side, along with a main stone and a couple flags.”

Claseman thought it would cost around $15,000 or more to build, so he started

money raising. He raised fund by distributing flyers from neighbor to neighbor

and by speaking at local events.

His idea was so fascinating that his community donated much more money

than expected. He was able to collect around 77,000 dollars.

The memorial was open to the public on Memorial Day. The memorial includes a

flag pole, a paved road, places to site and landscaped plants.

Jurgensen said. “It 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 remember their loved ones.”