Impressions and meditations: Veterans Park on Memorial Day
May 26, 2026 | Topics: Events, Places
By Eddee Daniel
Summer starts now. Summer starts here … in the sliver of land squeezed between the city and the great expanse of water that is Lake Michigan: Veterans Park and Milwaukee’s Lakefront.
The fickle, mercurial spring was suddenly banished. The air was redolent of charcoal and kettle corn. The sky crisscrossed with strings made taut by dozens of brightly colored kites straining against the wind. The ceaseless sound of jumbled joyful voices from hundreds, perhaps thousands, of revelers who had come for the kite festival welcomed in the start of the new season. A stiff breeze was lifting all the kites–and thereby people’s spirits. Abruptly, it shifted round from over the landward city skyline to the east, bringing with it a light mist off the lake.
But, like society itself, the park is large enough to hold a compelling contrast. Step away from the festivities, towards the southern tip of the park. There between the War Memorial building atop the art museum and the red granite Vietnam Veterans Memorial monument, flags were planted in lieu of flowers. Lest we forget, here is the primary reason for both the park and the holiday. 27,316 American flags, one for each Wisconsin soldier who died in service. All of the nation’s wars since the Civil War were represented, along with those who died in peacetime. The mood, shaped by remembrance and gratitude, was fittingly somber amongst the visitors to this corner of the park.
We use our parks for a wide variety of reasons. Sometimes we go to a park to find solitude and solace in a natural setting. Often it is for recreation of one kind or another. Sometimes, as on this Memorial Day weekend, we go expecting to be surrounded by friends, neighbors, strangers and … memories of friends, neighbors, strangers.
The clamor in Veterans Park this weekend is just one example of the importance of parks, especially in urban areas like Milwaukee, which serve many functions for diverse users. That Milwaukee’s parks can accommodate so many uses speaks to their resilience as well as the significance of their role in urban society. But the resilience of Milwaukee County’s award-winning park system is stretched as taut as a high-flying kite in a fierce wind by insufficient financial investment.
Imagine the power it would have if every single one of these people in Veterans Park this weekend–or at Bradford Beach or any number of other parks–took a moment to contact their local, and especially state, representatives and insisted “We need to make our parks financially secure now and for future generations.”
As our board president as stated in a previous op ed, Preserve Our Parks is spearheading an effort to create an independent Parks District with a dedicated funding stream and strong public oversight. We believe the public would support the idea. We know the public would benefit. Please join us so that we may all continue to enjoy the parks for our health and recreation, to fly our kites and to commune with our memories along with the natural world.
Gallery of Impressions – Memorial Day weekend
Field of Flags
Kite Festival
But wait! There’s more.
Neither the Field of Flags, nor the kite festival, as big, loud and busy as it was, were the only things happening in the park. Here are a selection of others.
More information about Preserve Our Parks and how to contribute is at preserveourparks.org.
Related story:
It’s Time to Give Milwaukee Parks the Funding Stability They Deserve
Eddee Daniel, writer/photographer, is a board member of Preserve Our Parks, the Project Director of A Wealth of Nature, and editor of The Natural Realm blog. Read more or subscribe at awealthofnature.org. Also available by arrangement for group presentations and guided tours.
The Natural Realm blog is part of A Wealth of Nature, which is a project of Preserve Our Parks. Milwaukee County Parks is a project partner of A Wealth of Nature.
About Preserve Our Parks
Preserve Our Parks, Inc. is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of parks and green spaces. Our mission: To advocate for and promote Milwaukee area parks and open spaces and to strive to protect the tenets of Wisconsin’s Public Trust Doctrine.
For more than 25 years, we have been a leader in advocating for the protection of Milwaukee County park lands, halting many proposals to develop, privatize, or sell local parkland and lakefront spaces. More information about POP, including past accomplishments, is available at www.preserveourparks.org.