Honoring the Fallen: Field of Heroes comes back to Pocatello
POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – For the last 27 years, Pocatello has been home to a unique memorial for fallen soldiers - the Field of Heroes. At the soccer fields at Century High School, exactly 7,086 markers stand in perfect lines to honor fallen veterans since 9/11.
Melissa Hartman, Bannock County Veteran's Services Coordinator, calls it a "one-of-a-kind tribute" for the community. Markers are crosses or Stars of David, each one with an individual's name, branch of service, and operation they were conducting when they passed.
The Volunteers who Make it Happen
It takes a lot of volunteers to set up the memorial each year, the process spanning four days before the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend when activities kick off.
"Our volunteers come from everywhere throughout the community," Hartman said. "We wouldn't be able to do this without the civil engineering survey crews; they get the lines perfect. It's pretty intricate and specific."
"The volunteers are the ones to make it happen," said John Rogers, Vietnam veteran and founder of the Field of Heroes. "They turn up automatically each year. The first year, we had to explain everything, but now they come out and want to do it, and it's spectacular to see their input into doing it."
She said some days they're out on the fields from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. setting up the memorial. Visitors may notice a section with larger crosses, which are reserved to honor Idaho military members.
"I tell everybody it's kind of like a family barbecue. We're here for four days and enjoy each other, the community comes out, we all have a good time," Hartman said.
Field of Heroes Events/Activities
The mood at the field changes on Friday, May 22, with the Dedication Ceremony. A member of the clergy and several local churches come to perform the ceremony, where the field will officially become a memorial site and a reverent place of honor for the soldiers.
The weekend is filled with other activities for families in the community to enjoy. "We believe it's important to teach our young children about what freedom really means and what the cost of freedom is," Hartman said. "Memorial Day is a wonderful time to teach them that."
She added they don't want the Field of Heroes to be a somber walk through the crosses. Instead, activities like the Youth Program at 6 p.m. on Friday, organized by middle and high school students in the district, make the weekend fun for families.
The "Liberty Snack Shack" will be open all weekend for food, which Hartman says adds to the family barbecue feel of the weekend.
Schedule of Activities
Friday, May 22
- 10 a.m. Dedication Ceremony
- 6 p.m. Youth Ceremony
Saturday, May 23
- 9 a.m. Run to Remember
- 12-2 p.m. Children's Activities
- 2 p.m. USO Show
- 3:30 p.m. Stasia Acrobats
Sunday, May 24
- 5 p.m. Concert - Shawn Barnby
- 8 p.m. Candlelight Vigil
Monday, May 25th
- 5:15 p.m. POW*MIA Thunder Run Tribute
- 5:30 p.m. Closing Ceremony
History of the Field of Heroes
John Rogers is a Vietnam veteran who began the Field of Heroes almost three decades ago. Rogers realized that some veterans would never come home and get their Yellow Ribbons. Specifically, Idahoan casualties needed a place to be honored.
"I did the first one at Irvin Junior High School football field, and we had it on Veteran's Day, and it was so popular the whole community came out to see it," Rogers said.
Now, Rogers said the soccer fields at Century High School provide "space for them all," meaning the over seven thousand honored soldiers.
"They're buried all over the country," Hartman added. "But once a year, these guys can come here and pay their respects to their buddies that they served on the battlefield with, and they can have some closure and time with them, to honor them the way they want to."
To give veterans and community members a chance to honor fallen veterans, with emphasis on Idaho casualties and an individual marker for each soldier passed since 9/11, is the reason organizers continue the legacy of the Field of Heroes every year.
Hartman said she's been offered to make a permanent monument before, but that it wouldn't have the same effect.
"It really loses something because what the field of heroes is, is the building of it," she said. "It's our community coming together as one. It's to honor the price of freedom."
Rogers says what's most important is that it's a unique opportunity for the community and beyond. "We're the only ones in the world to have anything like this. And for little tiny Pocatello to have something like that when you have bigger cities and everything else, we're doing it here," he said.
