North Bend-Morse Bluff Veterans Memorial Park

The North Bend-Morse Bluff Veterans Memorial Park honors all veterans who have served in the Armed Forces. Plaques and bronze sculptures represent each branch of the military. The park and bronze sculptures were designed by Nebraska native Fred Hoppe who has designed other bronze statues located at the University of Nebraska Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The sculpture of the soldier on bended knee is modeled after Ralph Groten, a WWII airborne paratrooper. Groten and three of his closest friends were separated after they jumped from their transport plane during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. After three days of fighting, Groten tried finding his friends. Not having any luck, he eventually started looking at the temporary graves that were set up (helmet on top of a gun and dog tag). He would get down on one knee to check the tags. Eventually he found that all three of his friends had been killed.