Since 2020, an Omaha-based group has planted nearly 2,000 trees in small plots across the state as memorials to those who died due to military service or service as a first responder or as a law enforcement officer. (Courtesy of Honor and Remember Nebraska)
OMAHA — It was a cold January day when an idea popped into Jim Meier’s head — why not plant a tree for every fallen soldier from Nebraska?
“It was just me talking to me,” said Meier, a Vietnam War veteran and tree lover, who jotted down the thought.
It’s a thought that has grown over three years into the planting of nearly 2,000 trees across the state as part of a “Nebraska Memorial Forest,” with small groves in Omaha, Lincoln, South Sioux City and Papillion.
Nebraska Memorial Forest
For more information about the Nebraska Memorial Forest, to donate, or to make sure a loved one is honored, visit the website: honorandremembernebraska.org/nebraska-memorial-forest/
“It seems only worthy and appropriate to provide support and comfort for those who have fallen,” Meier said. “It’s such a small action we Nebraskans can take to pay tribute.”
The Omaha-based sports psychologist and development consultant has some experience in that realm already as director of Honor and Remember Nebraska, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization.
That group, founded in 2012, provides “honor and remember” flags for Gold Star families — those who have lost a loved one in active-duty military service — and “honor and sacrifice” flags for families who have lost a first responder or law enforcement officer.
Meier, 79, said the Memorial Forest trees are intended to be a “living memorial” to fallen heroes.
So far, 1,785 trees have been planted for the 7,500 soldiers, first responders and law enforcement officers “known” to have fallen.
On Memorial Day, Meier’s group will dedicate groves of 50 trees in Valentine and 70 in Bassett after dedicating 92 trees on May 17 that were planted last fall at Summit Lake State Recreation Area near Tekamah.
The first 60 Memorial Forest trees were planted in 2020 at Omaha’s Levi-Carter Park, and similar sized forests are now located in 15 other communities, from the Horning State Farm Demonstration Forest near Plattsmouth to along old Highway 2 that through south Lincoln.
Conversations, Meier said, are underway to plant new forests of at least 50 trees each in communities from Falls City to Scottsbluff and Beatrice to Aurora.
The group hopes to plant 1,500 new trees this year, and complete the project by 2030.
Meier said there’s a lot of analogies between military service and a grove of trees.
Trees were chosen and assigned to a plot of land — as are soldiers — he said, and while each tree is unique, there are many species and types that become stronger when working together as a grove or military unit.
Because there is no official data base of “fallen heroes,” he said the Memorial Forest group is always learning about someone new. They are added to the list, Meier said.
Each tree, typically six-feet-tall and of several, native varieties, costs about $300 each, money raised through donations or sponsorships.
For instance, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission donated and planted the trees at Summit Lake, with the help of contributions by Tekamah native Ron Carson and his wife Jeanie. The Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District planted and will care for the trees at Valentine and Bassett.
Each tree is named for a military member, first responder or law enforcement officer who died while serving or from causes directly related from having served. Thus soldiers who died from exposure to Agent Orange or burn pits in Iraq are eligible.
Signage near the groves of trees features a QR code so that people can access a website that lists the location of each tree and the person associated with it, along with stories based on available information about them.
Eligibility extends back to the Spanish-American War of 1898.
Meier said he hopes the groves prove educational for those who visit the trees, as well as providing comfort for families and honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
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