HARRISBURG, S.D. (KELO) —The owners of Dynamic Development and American Legion Post 45 had a flag raising ceremony in Harrisburg.

To the naked eye, this site might look like a big rock, an old cannon, a bench, and a barren flag pole, but now the new veterans memorial in Harrisburg has raised its flag.

“Today we’re going to have the American Legion Post 45 out of Harrisburg come and do a flag raising ceremony. It’s an official dedication,” says collaborator & owner at Dynamic Development Mark Fiechtner.

“We get to do the fun stuff and show the people what we’ve done over the last 18 months, two years here. So it’s a neat project,” says Vice Commander Post 45 Harrisburg American Legion Nate Blom.

This whole project started when they found a 12,000-pound rock in a nearby field and wanted to put it to good use.

“And we had the idea with one of the local tenants to put a big engraving on the rock, to dedicate it for the Veterans Memorial. And my partner is a Vietnam veteran, so we that’s how it started,” says Fiechtner.

The rock isn’t the only staple of the memorial.

“We have a 1936 Japanese war cannon sitting over there that’s been part of the city of Harrisburg for 40 or 50 years,” says Blom.

For Fiechtner’s partner, Jerry Caulfield, this memorial hits close to home.

“This is a real honor because my father was a World War II vet in Europe, and my daughter is a veteran of the Iraq war. She was there around Desert Storm when they initially made that push into Baghdad. And I served in Vietnam in 1970 to 1971,” says collaborator and Vietnam veteran Jerry Caulfield.

Collaborators are still raising money to have the cannon fully restored.

If you would like to donate to the cannon restoration fund, you can contact Mark Fiechtner at 605-520-1773.