The Brookings Marine Corps. League raises Old Glory above the Point of Honor Veterans Monument in Crescent City on Saturday.

Douglas Plack’s voice broke as he read the names of the Del Norte County veterans who gave their all serving their country.

Crescent City’s retired police chief paused when he reached Capt. Bruno de Solenni, who was 32 years old serving with the Oregon National Guard in Afghanistan when was killed in 2008.

“Please bear with me as we reminisce about these friends, neighbors, community that gave us our freedom and our independence,” Plack said during the dedication of the Point of Honor Veterans Monument on Saturday.

De Solenni and 40 other Del Norte County veterans who died in the line of duty are engraved on a wall at the new monument, located at U.S. 101 and Front Street in Crescent City.

Harlan Ziegler, chair of the Del Norte Veterans Council, a committee of veterans, citizens, businesses and others, noted that it took a dozen years to bring the monument into reality. The dedication is “a good day for the veterans in our community,” Ziegler said. But, he noted, the entire community wanted and supported the Point of Honor Monument.

“There’s not many in this community who don’t have a veteran in their family,” he said. “The entire monument was built and financed by the community. This is yours, each and every one of you.”

The Del Norte Veterans Council obtained its first permit to build the Point of Honor Veterans Monument in 2009. Since the monument is in the coastal zone, the veterans council also needed a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission.

As the committee worked to break the red tape surrounding the monument’s construction, which began in 2017, the community made numerous donations in the form of labor, money, in-kind donations and materials to make it a reality.

State Sen. Mike McGuire, who declared Saturday, July 13, 2019 Del Norte County Veterans Day in Northern California, said the community raised nearly $175,000 for the monument.

Saying the monument will “stand the test of time,” McGuire praised the community’s tenacity and said July 13, 2019 will “go down in the North Coast history books as one of the best.”

“You have delivered on a promise made 12 years ago to the more than 2,400 veterans who call this extraordinary community home and thousands of their family members,” he said. “No matter how many hurdles were thrown… you never let up.”

The monument bears the names of Soua Phia Lo, Vue Vang, Joua Pao Vang and Nao Toua Vue, according to teacher Khou Vue, who is a member of the local Hmong community.

“Every one of us have family members who were veterans,” Vue said. “Many uncles and grandparents.”

Toward the end of the dedication ceremony, after Plack read the names of the 41 veterans the monument memorializes, Kelly Schellong, the Del Norte Veterans Council’s fundraiser and publicity coordinator, closed by saying the list of names on the monument may not be complete. She encouraged residents to reach out to the monument committee so their names could be included.

For de Solenni’s mother, Callie Martin, who sat in the front row during the ceremony, the monument is more than a tribute to her son’s memory.

“It’s a tribute that we need,” she said. “It’s a tribute to all our veterans. We wouldn’t be here without them.”

Members of the local Hmong community perform a special dance during the Point of Honor Veterans Monument dedication