Veterans Memorials

Many Roughriders have chosen the path of the military in their post high school life, and many of those young adults did not return home. The intent of these memorial projects are to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and thank them for their deed.

Memorial Video

This video project was created by our Veterans Committee after three years of research. Additional updates were made in May 2023. This is an ongoing project, if you know of any additional information or have any corrections, please email the committee at veterans@rooseveltalumni.org.

Memorial Garden

The first three memorials were originally placed in the courtyard behind the main building, in a location of solitude and reflection, for students to give a moment of thought each time they passed on their way to class. When the campus remodel began in 2015, these memorials were stored and safeguarded so that they may be displayed again in the future.

After the reconstruction completed, the RHSAA in conjunction with the current school administration decided on the location of the community garden as a final resting place for these memorials. In the coming years this garden will flourish with vegetation and other tokens of memory, and will remain a very central and public space on campus.

The Veterans Memorials are located to the right in this photo, in the community garden in front of the old auditorium building.

The Veterans Memorials are located to the right in this photo, on the circular gathering pad in the center of the community garden.

Veterans and Families

Donated by the Alumni Association, 2018

This stone was placed in 2018 when the previous three memorials were moved to their new location. The intent behind this memorial was to honor a much larger group of veterans, including but not limited to: those who have served in any war such as those who served more recently, those who attended but did not graduate from Roosevelt, and the families who lost their children in these wars.

This memorial was part of a large project by the Alumni Association with help from many other groups: The Blue Start and Gold Star Mothers, OM Memorial Company, and many of our local veterans organizations. A group of students also helped in this project, ensuring the stone was placed with care and stays well maintained.

Gulf War

Donated by the Class of 1991

This stone was a class gift, donated at the time of the Class of 1991's graduation. This class was deeply impacted by the war and many students knew others serving, including their family members and classmates. This moved them to quickly decide that their class gift would be a memorial to remember those who bravely served.

Vietnam War

Donated by the Girl's League 1983

Though the war ended a decade earlier, this stone was donated and dedicated in 1983 by the Girl's League. These ladies decided this was an appropriate action to take after learning that so many Roughriders had served in Vietnam and so many had lost their lives. They did not want these actions to be forgotten and created this project.

The Girl's League was an ambassador program that started in 1943 for students to identify and address local issues that were important to the school and the neighborhood. It was through their research within the community that they discovered the necessity of this memorial.

World War II and Korean War

Donated by the Class of 1958

Donated at the time of the Class of 1958's graduation, this was a very emotional project. WWII impacted the community heavily and many lives were lost from local families. The Korean War followed soon after the the pain was felt again. This class felt that it was their duty to memorialize these sacrifices and make a permanent fixture on campus, with this being the first veteran memorial placed.

During WWII the student body population declined, as many young men withdrew from school to enlist in the military. Many of them did not return home. These young men would have been uncles and cousins to members of the Class of 1958.

Support the project:

There is an ongoing project of researching and discovering information on those who served and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. If you have any information you would like to share, please email veterans@rooseveltalumni.org.

If you would like to make a donation to this project, please visit our donation page and on your check or PayPal donation note that you are giving for the Veterans Memorial Project.