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Visiting family history Sharene House, center, and her children, Michael, 8, left, and Brent, 10, visit the grave of a relative Wednesday at Eagle Point National Cemetery. The Houses, of Medford, were visiting several relatives' graves on Veterans Day. Photo by Jim Craven Right, Eagle Point National Cemetery director Darryl Ferrell, left, and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alan Crews, a Vietnam veteran, lower an ammunition box of memorabilia into the ground Wednesday during a ceremony at the cemetery. National cemetery begins veterans memorial project By VICKI GUARINO EAGLE POINT -- Six teddy bears, a fishing rod, two hand-carved hearts, a helmet, a canteen, eagle feathers, campaign ribbons and badges, three berets -- one green for special forces, one red for artillery and one black for rangers -- plus photographs, cards, notes and letters. Those were tokens of remembrance and farewell given a hero's burial and 21-gun salute Wednesday at the Veterans Day observance at Eagle Point National Cemetery. The mementos all were items left behind at the cemetery last summer, during the visit of the traveling exhibit of the Vietnam Wall. For the five days that the war memorial was on view in Eagle Point, hundreds visited in honor of the conflict's veterans. Wednesday's ceremony, said cemetery director Darryl Ferrell, was intended to create a permanent memorial site so those who visited the wall and others have a place to return to and remember. "What we're trying to do is have a memorial, a place where the families can come," Ferrell said as crowds gathered for the ceremony at the rear of the cemetery. The keepsakes were packed into an ammunition box and set at the top of small, circular memorial. They rest beneath a black granite marker and a black flag commemorating soldiers still missing from the conflict over Vietnam. The banner reads, "MIA-POW" and the message "You are not forgotten." Eventually, the site will be part of a larger memorial that will include a museum with artifacts and memorabilia from several of the nation's wars. The museum is to be part of a major construction project at the national cemetery scheduled to begin in the year 2000. Ferrell also used his dedication address to remind visitors to pay attention to veterans, the nation's living heroes. "Be there and listen to our veterans. Their stories are tough to listen to, and they're tough to tell ... but they tell the story of America. "Honor their memory whenever you can, and when you get a chance, thank a veteran." Dozens of visitors, from elderly veterans to a group of Cub Scouts, took up Ferrell's request to join in the dedication by tossing a shovelful of dirt over the keepsakes. Brothers Marc, 9, and Josh Bokish, 6, Medford, were among the Scouts who began the Veterans Day observance by joining in a parade up Main Street in downtown Medford. The pack presented a color guard at the cemetery dedication. "We just came to be part of the ceremony," Marc said. For the brothers, it was an event at which world history crossed family history. "We wanted to come," Marc said, looking out over a field of white tombstones. "Our grandfather is buried over there." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA