New memorial is in the works for the hundreds of veterans buried in the Teton-Newdale Cemetery

TETON, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - A large percentage of people buried in the Teton-Newdale Cemetery have a common history.

"The real cool thing I think about this cemetery is that there's so many veterans in it," said Air Force veteran, Quin Mace.

They were heroic men and women who served in the armed forces for our country, Mace tells us, a lot of them served in World War II, including his dad and uncle.

"The town, pretty much cleared out of all the males that were of age to go to war because they all left and they felt the obligation that they need to serve their country," Mace said.

Mace and his brother Gene Mace are part of the cemetery's Veterans Memorial Committee.

For more than a year, Gene has been collecting the names of all of the veterans buried, hoping to one day honor them with a memorial. As of Friday, Gene has collected 260 names.

"There's just a tremendous amount of veterans out here, and we just said, 'It's time to honor our vets,'" Gene said.

Currently a small statue pays tribute to the lives of those who served. Gene says the new memorial would add to it three stones with patriotic words and the names of the veterans who are buried there.

The Mace brothers said COVID-19 has impacted the donations needed to build the memorial, but with the communities help, they're hoping to get it up by veterans day.

"If we don't get it in this Fall, we'll certainly hopefully have it in for Memorial Day next year," Gene said.

For information on how to donate, view the details on the flyer below.