By Katrina Finkelstein and Derek H. Alderman for The Conversation.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Tennessee News Service.

On Veterans Day, people across America will thank veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service.

But many members of the public don't have a clear understanding of what service means to people in the military. How do they honor their own? What kind of spaces and activities help them reflect and remember - beyond one day a year?

We are cultural geographers who study how people's emotions and connections with the past are represented physically in landscapes. Recently, our research has focused on commemorative place names in the military - particularly names associated with the Confederacy, which the U.S. armed forces are now reviewing and renaming.

Early this year, one of us (Katrina Finkelstein) visited Camp Pendleton in California to research commemoration on Marine Corps bases and understand how active-duty Marines and veterans interact with those spaces. In addition to official memorials and monuments sanctioned by the military, there are more informal and intimate examples of commemoration.

These ongoing, "living" memorials can be especially meaningful for service members processing their experiences and remembering those they lost, and physically represent the emotional weight they carry every day.

A living memorial

Camp Pendleton, one of the U.S. Marines' busiest bases, sits between San Diego and Los Angeles on miles of undeveloped coastline.

Thirteen hundred feet above the base, more than 30 crosses stand on a hillside - a memorial site established in 2003. Before deployment to Iraq, a group of seven service members - two Marine officers, two enlisted Marines, two Navy corpsmen and one Navy chaplain - carried a cross made of an old telephone pole up to the site. It was an effort to remember a peer they lost and to prepare for the mission ahead of them. Three of the seven were later killed in action.

Today, the hilltop is still used for physical training and events before and after deployments. Meanwhile, its informal commemorations have expanded and changed, as many active-duty military and veterans develop a relationship with the space.

Destroyed in a fire in 2007, the original cross was replaced, and dozens of others added. Some are more intentionally constructed, engraved and carried up the steep hillside, while others might have been made from sticks on the way.

Contributing to the memorials has become an ongoing tradition. In August 2021, for example, after 13 service members were killed in a blast at Kabul airport - including nine Marines and one sailor based at Pendleton - new crosses appeared on the hillside. Others were erected at different Marine Corps bases, echoing the spontaneous way the first Camp Pendleton cross was installed.

This living memorial receives frequent attention, despite its isolated location and despite several official memorials throughout the base.

In an oral history interview, one of the original cross bearers from 2003, chaplain Scott Radetski, attributes the site's popularity to the "life" that exists on the hilltop. 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 crosses

On the journey to the Pendleton crosses, people carry mementos to leave at the top. At first, they were small rocks, but have evolved to include sandbags, combat knives, insignia, unopened beer and liquor bottles, and helmets, all piled at the base of the crosses.

At times, officials have moved to tidy it up, such as removing cans of alcohol. But some service members have objected, stressing that these items are deeply meaningful and carefully chosen. For them, these items they've carried to the top of the hill represent not only their comrades, but the emotional weight that veterans carry each day because of their experiences.

"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. The site is not always clean and neat, but he suggests it reflects the messiness of war and the traumatic experiences of the veterans who visit the site regularly.

In October 2021, before the battalion that sustained most of the losses at the Kabul airport returned to Camp Pendleton, the group Recycle for Veterans, which brings veterans together for cleanups on the West Coast, held an event to provide maintenance of the site. The group removed debris and empty bottles, but left mementos behind, leaving it ready for more commemorations in the future.

On 'common ground'

While many memorial landscapes can seem "fixed", representing a single moment or individual, the crosses at Camp Pendleton show that such spaces can actually change. The crosses reaffirm the idea that public memories are not static, and neither are spaces dedicated to them; new features are added as others are removed.

The crosses are not without controversy. A decade ago, after the Los Angeles Times ran a story about the memorial on Veterans Day, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers filed a complaint, arguing that their presence relegated "all non-Christians who have fought and died for our country [...] to second-class citizenship." Base officials reportedly conducted a review, and the memorial still stands.

For Marines who support the memorial, however, the site can serve multiple purposes: a destination during physical training, a way to prepare for a deployment, or a journey to come to terms with their experiences upon returning home.

Often, these activities are collective. Veterans organize semiannual hikes, meaning that the site does not become obsolete or forgotten. As the site of an ever-expanding memorial, the hillside is an example of how veterans continue to return to their own community, to a place that Chaplain Radetski called a "common ground," for remembrance and healing.

Katrina Finkelstein and Derek H. Alderman wrote this article for The Conversation.


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North Dakota high schools are in spring sports mode and there is lingering tension from winter sporting events, where Native American players endured racist taunts from non-Native fans, and one lawmaker wants more follow-through with the response.

Several incidents of players being subject to discriminatory behavior from the stands have prompted apologies from districts of opposing schools. The state High School Activities Association has responded, including by implementing a zero-tolerance policy.

Rep. Lisa Finley-DeVille, D-Mandaree, who represents the Fort Berthold Reservation, said the rules are not being widely enforced.

"The laws are there, they created them. It's about enforcing them," Finley-DeVille emphasized.

The Association also created a special committee to handle these matters, and Finley-DeVille noted she plans to engage with the panel over the summer. She hopes the input will lead to a better environment during games next year. The federal government already has its own civil rights investigation underway, stemming from an incident involving the Jamestown district last year.

Finley-DeVille appealed to the Department of Education Civil Rights Division last month with her own complaint. Meanwhile, she encouraged North Dakota to allow for Tribal Flag Songs to be performed before sporting events, just like the national anthem. She suggested it could help create more awareness among non-Native fans.

"The more education they (receive) about things, the better understanding they will have of Native Americans," Finley-DeVille pointed out.

DeVille acknowledged South Dakota already allows the practice. She added the department is evaluating whether her complaint against the Activities Association will lead to a separate probe. The Association did not respond to a request for comment.


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Minnesotans who haven't completed their tax returns yet might be fretting about meeting the April 15th deadline. For those facing language barriers or other resource issues, the concern is even greater, but help is available. In the Twin Cities and around Minnesota, there are free tax preparation sites staffed with multi-lingual volunteers, including those who speak Spanish. And the organization COPAL provides plenty of tax guidance to Latino populations in the communities it serves.

Claudia Lainez, Workers' Center director of the Communities Organizing Latino Power and Action said that includes assisting undocumented individuals as they get ready to file their returns. Despite certain myths, she said they are required to pay taxes like everyone else.

"And they pay a lot more taxes because, sometimes, they are not eligible for credits," she explained.

A key change this year is that these households are eligible for Minnesota's new Child Tax Credit. Undocumented people file their returns using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or I-TIN. COPAL and partner organizations can help secure this tool. On its website, the state Department of Revenue lists free preparation sites that help those who speak little or no English.

Some of these locations are by appointment only or have limited hours. Meanwhile, Lainez said part of their education is explaining to immigrants who are new to the state the importance of paying taxes.

"We have to provide information that taxes are good for the infrastructure of the city where you live in - for schools, for example, " she continued.

With less than two weeks before the tax filing deadline, she says there's also guidance for information seekers on how to get an extension. Certain sites in the state also help Hmong, Somali and Vietnamese populations.

As the nation observes National Medal of Honor Day, facilities in Florida and Texas are under construction to serve as perpetual memorials commemorating the heroic actions of recipients for their valor and sacrifice.

In Sebring, Florida, a memorial honoring the 24 recipients of the Medal of Honor from the Sunshine State is underway, with plans to celebrate 18 of them posthumously.

Mike Borders, chairman of the Florida Medal of Honor Memorial, anticipates the completion next year, featuring a botanical garden showcasing 90% native Florida plants, aiming to offer a memorable and inspiring experience for visitors.

"The second thing we want to do is educate our citizenry, primarily our youth, about the high cost of freedom," Borders explained. "Freedom is not free. Lots of men and women throughout our nation's history have died to preserve the freedoms that we hold dear."

Florida schools now mandate teaching about Medal of Honor Day. There are only 63 living recipients out of the more than 3,500.

In March 2025, Arlington, Texas will witness the opening of the National Medal of Honor Museum, paying homage to all the nation's heroes and their sacrifices.

Chris Cassidy, president and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, is a retired Navy SEAL and former lead astronaut for NASA. Beyond getting people to visit and check out the memorabilia on display, he hopes learning will take place way beyond the museum's walls.

"Our goal is to really inspire the nation through stories of courage and sacrifice of Medal of Honor recipients," Cassidy stressed. "To do that, we've created a leadership institute largely focused on character development in K-12."

Cassidy underscores the National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute's collaboration with the NFL, which sponsors the Character Playbook , a digital platform that integrated Medal of Honor-focused modules. The aim is to empower students to embody the values of courage, commitment and integrity. Cassidy says he witnessed the impact firsthand during a visit to Westglades Middle School, where Miami Dolphins players and Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter left a lasting impression on students.

Cassidy added he witnessed the effect firsthand during a visit to Westglades Middle School, where Miami Dolphins players and Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter left a lasting impression on students.


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