This year, as Veteran’s Day falls on Saturday, my usually assigned Global Traveler blog day, I wanted to use this space to thank and honor all veterans as well as one very special veteran in my life. I also wanted to share news of a fairly new program that seeks to honor veterans in a very tangible, beautiful way.

My father-in-law, Nicholas Vanikiotis, like so many men of his generation, served in World War II. Right after he graduated from high school in 1943 he was inducted in the Army, but as the first-generation son of Greek immigrants, he drew the attention of the fledgling O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services), the precursor of the C.I.A., which was forming an Operational Group to fight behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia and Greece. After a thorough vetting and training in infantry warfare, guerilla tactics and demolition, his group was deployed in 1944 and spent several months attacking German and Italian supply lines and troops, sometimes with the aid of local partisans. The battle record of this group was not released by the C.I.A. until 1988, so few Americans and even fewer Greeks were aware that U.S. troops fought in Greece during the war.

When my family visited Athens during a cruise in 2011, we were fortunate to visit a memorial statue which the Greeks had erected in a military park adjacent to the Ministry of Defense in 2005. We were proud to see the U.S. soldiers honored by the Greeks for their service in this way, and made rubbings of Dad’s name,  listed with his fellow soldiers, on the base of the monument.

Here in my Southern Oregon hometown of Central Point, a park near my home  also honors war veterans with the Oregon Fallen War Heroes Memorial    and monuments dedicated to each of the military branches. This year friends and loved ones of veterans have a new way to honor them with the implementation of the My Veteran/My Hero Tribute Tree program. A donation of $450 allows a resident to celebrate a veteran with the purchase and planting of a tree in the park, and it will include a nearby plaque on a post with the veteran’s name and a QR code linked to a city webpage where a photo and biographical information about the individual provided by the family may be found.  At a ceremony today the initial four Tribute Trees will be dedicated in what will be known as the Heroes Grove.

Central Point is only the second U.S. city to establish this program, which began in State College, Pennsylvania, in the Centre Region Parks and Recreation department there. It seems to me a really wonderful way to remember our vets, share their stories with a wider community and beautify our local spaces. Our family will certainly consider honoring our favorite veteran in this way, and I hope other communities across the country will consider starting a similar program in their parks.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor