Sunny. High around 85F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Clear skies. Low 61F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Sunny. High around 85F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Clear skies. Low 61F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

SPEARFISH — The third black granite wall has been set in place at the Spearfish Veterans Monument.

The wall was installed Wednesday.

Doug Henwood, treasurer for the Spearfish Veterans Monument board, said a dedication ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. Sept. 11 at the monument located by Indian Springs and the Spearfish city park.

“It wasn’t supposed to go up for another couple weeks, but the conditions were perfect, so I said, ‘go ahead,’” Henwood said.

Black Hills Monument, of Belle Fourche, installed the four slabs that make up each individual wall. Those slabs, plus the base, weigh in the neighborhood of 10,000 pounds.

Henwood said Black Hills Monument employees would also engrave the dedication dates on both the second and third walls.

The idea of the “living monument” was formed in 2010 after a Spearfish American Legion Post 164 member saw a similar tribute to veterans in Wyoming. Members of the post as well as those from VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 5860 ran with the idea and began raising funds with each organization contributing $1,000.

In 2015 the monument was dedicated and a year later the first wall was set in place. In 2019 the second wall was installed, and now the third wall is set.

That first wall cost about $30,000 and the second wall around $36,000. The quarry where the granite was sourced raised their prices significantly forcing the board members to contemplate using brown granite.

However, a quarry in northeast South Dakota, was found with reasonable prices for black granite and that is where the third wall came from.

“The nice thing about South Dakota granite is that, it’s from South Dakota, and we can get it in two to three months rather than six to eight months,” Henwood said.

The monument is considered a living monument as it honors those who have served and passed as well as those who have served and remain alive. As new service members leave the military, they too can have their names added to the walls.

To have veterans’ names etched in stone, they need to submit their DD Form 214.  Those who qualify for the monument include any members of the armed forces who were honorably discharged and lived in the Spearfish area (zip code 57783) for at least one year.

People can send donations, records of discharge, or correspondence to Spearfish Veterans Monument, P.O. Box 1072, Spearfish, S.D. 57783, and people can also find out about upcoming SVM events, progress, and information at spearfishveteransmonument.org.

Henwood said that funds are still being raised for the final two walls.

The five walls represent the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. The monument was designed and dedicated before the Space Force, which was established on Dec. 20, 2019.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Get 14 days of local news with our Black Hills Pioneer e-edition

Locally Owned and Operated Since 1876

Receive our newspaper electronically with the e-Edition email.

Classifieds from Black Hills Pioneer

Have the latest local news delivered every afternoon so you don't miss out on updates.

Find out what's happening with the latest events in our community.

Each day's obituaries, delivered to your inbox.

Receive occasional local offers from our website and its advertisers.

Get the latest headlines on local sports!

Get our expert short-term forecast, summary of the weather details and news of any severe weather.

We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen!

Best trending stories from the week.

Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.

Check your email for details.

Invalid password or account does not exist

Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.

An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.

Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.

A receipt was sent to your email.