June 2023
Arlington, South Dakota.

November 11, 2025, is Veterans Day. To thank the men and women who have served the country, this Travel Tuesday post features a tour of one of the many tributes to veterans in towns and cities around the country.

On May 27, 2013, the American Legion Post 42 dedicated a new Veterans Memorial in a small park in Arlington, a city of less than 1,000 in Eastern South Dakota. The memorial, dedicated to local veterans, is a testament to the community spirit of Arlington. The small park boasts eight life-size statues, twelve granite benches, nine flagpoles, and, most importantly, four black granite tablets listing over one thousand veterans with connections to the small city. The community’s financial and popular support made the American Legion project possible.

We stopped by the memorial on a blustery afternoon that threatened rain showers. Luckily, the rain held off, and periods of sunshine are visible in some of the images. The carefully groomed plant beds showed their best in these late June photos.

The small park is at the point of a “V” junction of three roads. A sidewalk provides a self-guided tour of the statues and tablets listing the names of veterans from the Arlington area. This tablet reads, “IN HONOR AND REMEMBRANCE OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY IN TIME OF WAR AND PEACE”

Eight statues depict servicemen and women in varying uniforms. The tablets near each statue list local veterans who served in their respective wars.

One tribute depicts a soldier kneeling at the cross of a fallen comrade. The tablet in the background lists the Korean War veterans from the community who served in that conflict.

Behind the Veterans Memorial is a small lake with an island called ‘Nordland Isle.’ Several benches invite visitors to stop and rest, and a bridge leads to Nordland Isle. In another post, we visit the gardens on that tiny island.

Behind the soldiers, two tablets list the Arlington residents who served in the two World Wars of the 20th century. This memorial to veterans is located approximately 20 minutes west of Exit 133 in Brookings, South Dakota. Travelers to Lake Poinsett will find this route to be a worthwhile detour to check out the Veterans Memorial, which is not far out of the way. For those who like to pixel-peep, I’ve posted all of these images in 2K HD on my Flickr site here.

John Steiner