Veterans Memorial Drive was dedicated in 1934 as a mile-long drive along the Blue River to honor war veterans, funded in part as a federal relief project in which sixty men a week worked for seven months to complete it, and it officially became a Beatrice City Park on June 26 of that year. The parkway helped connect Chautauqua, Nichols, and Riverside Parks. In 1997, the Y.E.S. (Youth for Environmental Success) Club of Beatrice Middle School adopted Memorial Drive to keep it clean and beautify it after the one hundred-year flood of 1992 and the 1996 tornado had damaged and destroyed much of the landscape along the drive. By applying for grants, conducting clean-ups, and collecting aluminum cans, club members purchased a brick memorial to beautify the entrance. Rededicated in 2000, the memorial's mural uses Endicott brick to symbolize native earth and home soil, honoring Nebraska veterans who left home to fight on foreign soil and served selflessly without regard for honors or fanfare. Its unfurling flag symbolizes unwavering pride and care for citizens across the land, and the small-town scene represents the few becoming the power of many in a common bond of mission, with veterans and those left behind contributing to preserve democracy.