Tony Knox and Supervisor Gayle Uilkema at the new veterans memorial. Photo Cathy Dausman

"In recognition and memory of all men and women who have given their lives for the sake of our freedom, may we never forget."

A new veteran's memorial was dedicated in the Moraga Commons on November 11. The memorial was developed by Tony Knox, a Campolindo High School junior, in cooperation with local Kiwanis and the Moraga Parks and Recreation Commission.

Knox is a Life Scout in BSA Troop 246 this was his Eagle project.

More than sixty people attended the hour-long ceremony, which opened with bagpipe music, the posting of the colors and singing of the national anthem. Author and Vietnam veteran Tim Haslam read from his memoir Stars & Stripes and Shadows. Dignitaries included Moraga Mayor Ken Chew Moraga Police Chief Robert Priebe and Contra Costa District 2 Supervisor Gayle Uilkema.

The memorial rests alongside the Lamorinda Trail Loop adjacent St. Mary's Road. Its inscription includes an eagle, seven service insignias (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, the US Merchant Marine and Army National Guard) and an excerpt from a World War I era poem.

Knox sees the memorial as an ongoing "work in progress" and expects to see the eagle painted, and landscaping and lighting in the future.