About
The Ebbetts Pass Veteran's Memorial District covers Calaveras County from Alpine County down to right above Vallecito, and from the Stanislaus River on the south to a boundary line going toward Sheep Ranch. There are five board members, serving terms of four years at a time, with at least three of them required to be veterans and all of them required to live in the district and be registered to vote in the district. The board meets once a month at their hall in Murphys. They planned, designed and have installed many flag pole memorials at fire stations, parks, cemeteries and other locations throughout their district.
In addition they provide new flags for schools and provide individual flags for the graves of all veterans buried in Buena Vista Cemetery in Murphys. The board members also march in parades in Arnold and Murphys, carrying the flags of each branch of the service, to increase awareness of veterans.
In 2010 the Veteran's District was allowed to use a portion of county land next to the Murphys Community Park for a large Veteran's Memorial. It includes a tall central flag pole with the emblems of all the branches of service on the base, handicapped accessible walkways, benches and a wall where families could purchase a brick engraved with the name of a veteran to memorialize them.
In 2014 the memorial was greatly enlarged due to the generosity of the John Kautz family, who designed and paid for the entire project. The central feature is a bronze statue of a soldier mounted on a large boulder. This new section was dedicated on Memorial Day 2014, with the Kautz family bringing in food tents and providing a free lunch for all veterans after the dedication. This addition to the memorial area also includes another wall for memorial bricks and picnic tables. The location, next to the creek and surrounded by trees, makes it a perfect spot.