The site at 12th Avenue and 10th Street is changing dramatically.

Community members gathered at the park on Saturday to dedicate a new addition to the park, a massive rock painted with patriotic images.

A granite monument, plus six pillars that will be inscribed with the names of local veterans will soon go up in the park.

And future plans include a sidewalk connecting the park to a trail being built through the city.

-Submitted photo
The front of a special rock, painted specifically for the Veterans Memorial Park in Manson, now rests at its new home. The rock was dedicated in a special ceremony Saturday and features a veterans cemetery with jets flying the missing man formation overhead.

“Things are just moving along really quickly and it started with a rock,” said Verlyn Kirchoff, commander of Frank Steckelberg American Legion Post 204 in Manson.

The land the park now occupies was sold to the city of Manson by Raymond Peterson in about 1979 at a bargain price.

“He sold it with the express wish that it would become a veterans memorial,” said Randy Nelson, a Marine Corps veteran who painted the rock.

He said that one of Raymond Peterson’s sons, Air Force Maj. Delbert Peterson, was shot down over Vietnam. His remains were never found, according to Nelson.

In the 1980s, the local American Legion Post erected the memorial made of brick and three flagpoles on the site.

-Submitted photo
The back of a memorial ROCK placed in Veterans Memorial Park in Manson is shown featuring the names of five men who were either killed in action or who were prisoners of war. The rock was dedicated Saturday during a special ceremony at the park, hosted by Manson American Legion Post 204.

This year, Kirchoff, a Navy veteran, suggested placing a specially-painted rock at the site.

“Boy, one thing led to another,” he said.

The rock, which Kirchoff estimated weighs more than five tons, was donated to the cause.

The first artist who was asked to paint it had to decline because she had to care for a sick family member.

Nelson then agreed to take on the task. He does a lot of custom painting of vehicles, and is experienced with using an air brush.

He said he first envisioned an American flag and a POW-MIA flag across the top of the rock.

What followed was 230 hours of painting between the end of May and the end of June, all done with automotive paints.

The finished project has the American and POW-MIA flags on the top. The front features a veterans cemetery with jets in the sky above the headstones, flying the missing man formation. The front also features the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a rifle squad firing a 21-gun salute.

On the back of the rock, Nelson painted a bronze plaque bearing the names of five Manson men who were killed in action or were prisoners of war. They are:

• Army Pvt. Frank Steckelberg, who was killed in World War I.

• Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Madson, who served in World War II and the Korean War and was a prisoner of war.

• Air Force Maj. Delbert Peterson, killed in the Vietnam War.

• Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jerold Despard, killed in the Vietnam War.

• Army Pfc. Frederick Holst, killed in the Vietnam War.

The painted rock was towed on a trailer in the June Greater Crater Days parade.

It is not the only special rock in the park. After his death, members of Delbert Peterson’s graduating class at the former Manson High School created a memorial to him by placing a brass plaque on a rock. That rock was placed near City Hall in downtown Manson. Nelson said permission was obtained to move that to Veterans Memorial Park.

Coming soon to the park is a black granite monument measuring five feet tall and six feet wide dedicated to deceased veterans. Nearby will be five or six pillars that will bear the names of veterans. Kirchoff said he thinks each pillar will have 200 names on it.

Also planned for the park is an arrangement of six 20-foot tall flag poles from which the flags of the six branches of the United States armed forces will be flown.

In the middle of those flagpoles will be a 47-foot tall pole from which the American flag will fly.