Elkhart dedicated this memorial park in gratitude to all veterans of the Armed Forces and specifically honored members of the community who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, while also remembering those who gave their lives. The site includes an honor roll of Elkhart community members, special recognition of Williard "Spud" Payne, a PFC in the U.S. Marine Corps killed in Korea on October 7, 1952, and a World War I Centennial Memorial designation conferred by the United States World War One Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Dedications were made by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Elkhart in 1989 and on the fiftieth anniversaries observed in 1995, 2000, and 2011, with support from Elkhart Post #616 Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion.