Still Serving: How the USS Sterett and Our Community Keep the Memorial Worthy of Its Mission
There is something quietly profound about watching sailors scrub granite.
Recently, the crew of the USS Sterett (DDG-104) came to Mt Soledad National Veterans Memorial not as visitors, but as stewards. Sleeves rolled up, they cleaned plaque walls that bear the names of those who came before them, cleared garden debris from the grounds, and left the memorial exactly as it deserves to be — pristine, dignified, and ready to receive the weight of remembrance.
It is a scene that could have happened decades ago. It could happen decades from now. And that continuity is precisely the point.
A Memorial Is Only as Strong as the Community Around It
Mt. Soledad stands 822 feet above La Jolla, visible for miles across San Diego — a landmark that belongs to the city and, in the truest sense, to the nation. The more than 7,000 granite plaques etched into its curved walls represent every branch of service, every era of American military history, and families from across the country who chose this place to honor someone they loved.
But a local landmark doesn't maintain itself. It is maintained by intention. By hands.
The Mt Soledad National Veterans Memorial is 100% supported by the local communities — no government appropriations, no federal maintenance budget. What keeps these walls gleaming, these grounds welcoming, is the investment of a community that understands what is at stake when we let sacred spaces diminish.
The USS Sterett's visit is a reminder that this investment shows up in forms that money can't always measure.
Service Recognizing Service
The Sterett is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer based out of Naval Station San Diego. When her crew came to the memorial, they weren't fulfilling an obligation — they were making a choice. To show up for the names on those walls. To honor the continuum of American military service that connects every sailor who has ever worn the uniform to every sailor who ever will.
That's what it looks like when a community doesn't just visit a memorial — it claims ownership of one.
The crew cleaned plaque walls, removing the residue of weather and time. They raked garden beds and cleared debris from the grounds. And in doing so, they added their own chapter to this place — unwritten, unrecorded, but no less real..
250 Years of Hands That Built and Kept This Nation
We are approaching a moment unlike any in American history: the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding on July 4, 2026. America 250 is not just a celebration — it is an invitation to examine what endures. What we have chosen to preserve. What we are passing forward.
Mt Soledad is part of that answer.
For decades, this memorial has been tended by people who understand that honoring service is itself a form of service. Veterans' organizations, community volunteers, active-duty units like the crew of the USS Sterett — they are the reason visitors from across the country and around the world can arrive at this hilltop and find a place that reflects the dignity of those remembered here.
As the nation prepares to mark 250 years, we are reminded that landmarks don't become landmarks because they're built. They become landmarks because generations of people decide, again and again, that they are worth keeping.
Mt Soledad is worth keeping. The crew of the USS Sterett knows it. And so do the thousands of families whose loved ones are etched into these walls.
How You Can Be Part of It
Community stewardship of this memorial takes many forms — volunteering, honoring a veteran with a plaque, supporting our operations through a gift. As we approach America's 250th, there has never been a more meaningful moment to ensure that Mt Soledad continues to stand as a place of honor for generations to come.
[Learn more about supporting the memorial → https://www.soledadmemorial.org/volunteer]
Mt Soledad National Veterans Memorial | La Jolla, California 100% locally funded | Honoring Veterans Since 1952
