Thirteen hundred feet above the base, more than 30 crosses stand on a hillside – a memorial site established in 2003. Because of its more intimate nature — secluded from the public and requiring an hourlong hike to visit — it has become especially meaningful for service members. The crosses are not a public memorial, he said, but “a warrior memorial.”More than crossesOn the journey to the Pendleton crosses, people carry mementos to leave at the top. But some service members have objected, stressing that these items are deeply meaningful and carefully chosen. “Those mementos represented that suffering, that pain, that loss, that anguish, that angst, whatever it was” that service members needed to leave behind, Radetski said.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 29, 2023 11:38 UTC