Nevada State Veterans Memorial opens at Thunderbird Family Sports Complex after petition kept statues in Las Vegas

What happened

State and local leaders gathered on Wednesday, Nov. 11, Veterans Day, to open the Nevada State Veterans Memorial at the Thunderbird Family Sports Complex in northwest Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The complex is at 6105 North Durango Drive and is named for the Thunderbird squadron at Nellis Air Force Base.

The memorial places 18 bronze statues a few steps from a playground, a setting Las Vegas City Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske described as a good fit, according to the Sun. She said she hopes the memorial reminds children and families of the sacrifices veterans made. You can read our earlier coverage of the memorial's opening.

What visitors will find

The statues

The centerpiece is a group of 18 bronze statues, each 7.5 feet tall, made by sculptor Douwe Blumberg, the Sun reported. The state commissioned them in 2011 to honor U.S. service members from the Revolutionary War to the present. Each statue represents a different war, ending with the War on Terror.

Figures include a Civil War soldier, a World War II soldier and nurse, a Vietnam War soldier, a Gulf War pilot and a present-day service member. One shows a wounded soldier being carried from the battlefield, and others depict military families. Rommel Ferrer, deputy director of benefits for the Nevada Department of Veterans Services, said the family statues show that when one person serves, the whole family serves too.

The grounds

Beyond the statues, the memorial includes an outdoor walkway with landscaped areas, an outdoor amphitheater, educational signs and walls bearing quotes from well-known historical figures tied to the armed forces, according to the Sun.

How the statues ended up in a city park

From downtown to a planned move

The statues once stood outside the former Grant Sawyer state office building near downtown Las Vegas. Vincent Palmieri Jr. of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 711 told the Sun that many veterans visited them regularly for ceremonies and for healing. The building closed in 2024 after years of complaints about sewage leaks, black mold and other problems, and it was demolished in July to make way for a new housing complex.

A petition to keep them local

In 2024, after learning the statues would be moved to the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Palmieri started a petition to keep them in Las Vegas. Brendan Vargas, who retired from the Air Force, brought the petition, which had more than 1,300 signatures, to Allen-Palenske, the Sun reported. She then began working to find a permanent home in her district.

Gov. Joe Lombardo's office, the Nevada state public works department and the Nevada Department of Veterans Services helped with the search before the Thunderbird site was chosen.

Cost and who paid

The Sun reported the project cost $10 million and was a partnership among the state of Nevada, the city of Las Vegas and the Mayor's Fund for Las Vegas LIFE, an independent nonprofit that raises donations for city initiatives. The state contributed $3 million.

Nevada's two other state-recognized veterans memorials are both in the north: the Battle Born Memorial at the Capitol Complex in Carson City and the Mustang 22 Memorial at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Stead. Nearly 219,000 veterans, more than 10,000 active-duty members and more than 6,000 National Guard and Reserve members live in Nevada, according to figures from the governor's office cited by the Sun.

What leaders said

Col. Mary Devine, director of the Nevada Department of Veterans Services, said the memorial honors those who served while also recognizing the human side of military service, the Sun reported. Mayor Shelley Berkley contrasted the site with the veterans cemetery, which she called a place of mourning, and described the park as a living memorial where veterans can bring children and grandchildren to see the statue that represents their era of service. For more local stories, see our community coverage.

What to watch next

• Plans for the new housing complex on the former Grant Sawyer building site, which was demolished in July to make room for it.
• How veterans groups that once held ceremonies at the downtown statues use the new amphitheater and grounds at 6105 North Durango Drive.