This memorial honors those from Dallam and Hartley who gave their lives for the American way of life and places their sacrifice within a broad history of U.S. wars, from the Civil War through Somalia. It names local dead and summarizes each conflict as follows: the Civil War of 1861 - 1865, fought over states’ rights and slavery, brought immense losses to both North and South; the Spanish-American War of 1898 led to U.S. possession of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines after fighting with Spain over Cuba; World War I, entered by the United States in 1917 after Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare, ended with a peace that laid the foundation for later dictatorships; World War II, beginning in Europe in 1939 and for the United States at Pearl Harbor in 1941, ended with Germany’s surrender and Japan’s surrender after atomic bombings; the Korean War of 1950 - 1953 began with a North Korean attack on South Korea and ended in armistice after major U.S. and allied fighting; the Vietnam War of 1961 - 1975 grew from advisory roles to major combat after the Gulf of Tonkin incident and ended after the fall of Saigon; U.S. forces also served in Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, the Persian Gulf War, and Somalia, in actions ranging from peacekeeping and restoring order to repelling aggression and liberating Kuwait.