To complete the mine theme, we offer you this shot that Colorado Sunday designer Linda Shapley took on her way home from the San Luis Valley. Where was it taken, and what do you know about it? Put it all in a note to coloradosunday@denverpost.com, and include a digital photo of yourself and tell us where you live. We’ll pick at least one story to share next week. The best wins a $50 gas card.
How’d you know?
Last week: American Service Women’s Memorial, Collbran
THE WINNER: Ann Holmes, Stagecoach
When the American Service Women’s Memorial at the end of Main Street in Collbran was dedicated on July 4, 1991, I was honored to be part of the festivities. I sang with the Grand Mesa Chorus of Sweet Adelines from Grand Junction while servicewomen from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines were presented. I was proud that I knew two of the women, possibly the eldest and youngest.
The eldest was my aunt, Army Maj. Lanetta Carson from Cedaredge, who was one of the first women to land on Omaha Beach shortly after D-Day. She served in the Nurse Corps with the 50th General Hospital as they followed Gen. Patton’s (and other) troops across France into Germany and Austria. Later while she was a training coordinator for MASH unit nurses in Korea, she married Army Capt. Gerald G. Carson, who was stationed in Japan. She died in 2003, at the age of 92.
Perhaps the youngest servicewoman was the Air Force representative, the daughter of good friends of ours in Grand Junction who had just finished a 3-year enlistment. We attended her wedding 2 weeks before the dedication.
The American Service Women’s Memorial was the work of Dick Cummins, who began this project in the 1970s when he came to believe that the contributions of American servicewomen had been ignored for too long. This jewel is a passionate statement of tribute from a fellow soldier who served during the Korean War.
BACK IN THE DAY: Jim Grabowski, Lafayette
Tucked back into a hillside, well tended and clean, the memorial sits on land donated by the town of Collbran. A year ago, except for an occasional rancher’s vehicle this memorial was in full view from anywhere on Main Street. Now large pickup trucks, a result of the gas boom in southwest Colorado, crowd the view at all times of the day.
FIRST IN LINE: Maxine Glassman, Denver
This is such a familiar landmark to me, as we travel through Collbran to go to our cabin at Vega Reservoir. I know it was the first memorial built for American Service Women, completed in 1976. I am always so proud that this small town in Colorado is at the forefront, honoring a group that is forgotten so many times.
