You can't help but notice The Highground as you travel along Highway 10, west of Neillsville.
If you decide to leave the highway and go up the hill to what indeed is high ground, you'll find a touching, beautifully done memorial park for veterans and their families.
The Highground, a grassroots effort run by a non-profit group, states its mission is to "honor veterans and their families and to educate about the cost of things -- the human cost. It is the vision of The Highground to honor human courage and sacrifice wherever it is displayed, without either denying or glorifying the pain and suffering of war and life."
Covering 140 acres, and overlooking thousands of acres of Wisconsin woodlands and glacial moraine, the park is open 24/7, 365 days a year. A Timberframe Information Center and Gift Shop is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and offers an audio tour and other guides for the grounds.
Those grounds are impressive. Statues and other structures honoring veterans of all American wars are artistically arranged around the site. There's a WWI doughboy. The Globe, a five-foot diameter globe on a black granite base, pays tribute to WWII vets.
A statue of a nurse pays tribute to all women who have served the nation. The Highground was one of the first veteran memorials to pay tribute to women veterans.
The National Native American Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the first national memorial to be established at The Highground. Mounted on a 10-ton piece of red granite, the sculpture depicts a Native American soldier in jungle fatigues, holding a rifle in one hand and an Eagle Feather Staff in the other. The names of Native Americans who died in the Vietnam War are etched into the granite base.
Near the memorial for Native American vets of Vietnam, you can find the Vietnam Veterans Tribute. This is the first veterans tribute in the U.S. to include a woman in the statuary. She wears a poncho that flows out from the back of the figures. Under it, she carries the burden of Wisconsin vets killed in Vietnam. Their names are inscribed on the bundles of bamboo-shaped bronze rods in the back of the statue.
A replica of the Liberty Bell can be run and can be heard throughout the grounds. Visitors are encouraged to ring the bell to "Let Freedom Ring."
An Earthen Dove Effigy Mound pays tribute to POWs and MIAs. A 125-foot Gold Star is a living tribute to all families who have ever lost a loved one in war. Both these memorials are lit at night and can be seen for miles.
In 2006, a Meditation Garden was dedicated. There, visitors can reflect and enjoy the surroundings. Meditation stones are available to the public as fundraisers for the garden. The Highground also offers Legacy Stones for those who offer support to the overall facility.
Visitors stroll amidst all these memorials and can look out on some of the most picturesque landscape in the state. There are four miles of hiking trails on the grounds.
The Highground's history will touch anybody with a heart. In 1965, Tom Miller held his mortally-wounded friend on a battlefield in Vietnam and made a vow that his death would not be forgotten.
Miller and several other people who had made similar vows incorporated as the Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Memorial Project in 1984 and started searching for sites. The present site was selected, and fundraisers from bicycle tours to other events started raising money.
A 70-foot flagpole and lights became the first permanent fixtures. The Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park was dedicated in 1986. The name was later changed to The Highground and tributes to veterans of all conflicts were added.
As a brochure for the park reads, "We seek to have The Highground continue to be a focus of healing for all who comes, regardless of the name of the battle which left the scars."
Great veterans' memorials can be found throughout Wisconsin and the entire nation. This writer has visited many over the years, but few have had the impact of The Highground. The location is one reason. It truly is beautiful. The inclusion of women, Native Americans and others who often have been forgotten in past memorials is another. The statues and other memorials also are done with artistic skill and class.
Events are held throughout the year at The Highground, with the biggest on Memorial Day, July 4 and Veterans Day. But, again, the park is open year around. It is decorated for the holidays at this time of the year.
No federal or state funding are used for The Highground. It is maintained by the non-profit group.
