By Todd Best
My journey to the Pacific Northwest started at the age of 17 when I joined the Navy.
I left the front door of a house that I had called home for 17 years on the morning of August 21, 1990; it was my mother’s birthday. At basic training I learned not only how to become a sailor, but a man. After completing my basic training, I was given orders to the USS Nimitz (CVN-68).
I remember getting to Bremerton in November of 1990. It was raining and a whole lot different than the Niagara Falls/Buffalo, New York area that I grew up in. My enlistment in the Navy was an amazing experience for me. I know it’s not for everyone, but we all shared a common bond in our love for our country.
I visited a lot of different countries by the age of 20. During my three year enlistment, I had buddies back home who couldn’t point to a map and identify some of the countries we visited, let alone ever get a chance to experience the different cultures I was exposed to during that time.
I knew at a very young age that the United States was the home of the free because of the brave folks that came before us and made sacrifices for the good of our country and future generations. Memorial Day to me is more than a federal holiday. Memorial Day is every day for me. It’s a day for all of us to remember those who have come before us, those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation. We must “Never Forget” our veterans.
We all have something good to offer to our country, community, and sometimes just to others in general. One way I gave back was by seeing a need and by putting my words into actions to clean up the city of Bremerton-owned Ivy Green Cemetery. Not only are several of the city of Bremerton’s “founding fathers” laid to rest there, but lots of our veterans are, too, including a Civil War hero by the name of John Nibbe.
I was made aware of the deplorable conditions of this city-owned cemetery by a fellow veteran of the Marine Corps who had visited the cemetery with his grandson to view the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. I knew I had to do something. I knew this was going to be a major undertaking that would need the help of many people. I put out a call to action via Facebook and was overwhelmed by the support of this great community. There was a tremendous outpouring of support from local businesses and residents. People came from as far away as Seattle, Tacoma and even Arizona to help.
A large group of volunteers, young and old, cleaned the grave markers and headstones of this 15-plus-acre cemetery. After the major cemetery cleanup, I could not walk away without turning my attention to our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was in dire need of some TLC. Our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dirty, with two cracked sidewalks leading to nowhere.
I was most offended by the American flag that was tattered with no light to shine upon this symbol of our great nation at night. I left the cemetery on that spring day in 2012 with a heavy heart. I asked a local artist/aspiring architect by the name of Josh Fisher for help in designing a new Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which would restore the respect and dignity that a memorial like this so deserves.
Josh and I sat down over a coffee to talk over ideas and to take notes. Josh came back to me with a beautiful new sidewalk system which united both pathways as a ribbon. All the supplies, materials and labor was donated 100 percent by local businesses and local civic groups who I had given presentations to. When I walk through the cemetery and view our veterans’ graves today and think of the sacrifices that they made for our country, I feel it was an honor to be in their presence for my spring and summer of 2012 as I worked alongside them.