HOWELLS — Iowa has its “Field of Dreams,” a baseball field built in a cornfield.
Now Nebraska has a “Field of Flags.”
Down a gravel road from the Molacek farm, the family has built a veterans memorial topped by a 120-foot-high flagpole, flying a 30-by-50-foot American flag. Five other flagpoles display the banners of every branch of the U.S. military.
The flags are situated on top of a rise just east of the intersection of Nebraska Highways 32 and 15. They are brightly lit at night and visible for miles.
“We wanted to show how we feel about veterans, so they’re recognized 365 days a year and not just one,” said Don Molacek Jr., who now lives in the home place.
He and his wife, Donna, an Air Force veteran, pooled their resources with Molacek’s two sisters, Ardene Belina of Howells and Renee Tichota of Lincoln, to design and build the memorial.
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In the center is a granite monument honoring their late father, Donald Molacek Sr., who saw combat in the Korean War from 1951 to ‘53. Below the American flag flies the black POW/MIA flag.
Molacek, who farms and has a gravel business, said “you don’t want to know” how much the Field of Flags cost, but he said it took 120 yards of concrete to build the plaza and anchor the 7,634-pound main flagpole. He and his wife hauled 120 tons of red rock from South Dakota to surround the memorial and installed lights costing $5,500 to illuminate it.
There are also signs reading “Love Freedom? Thank a Vet” and “I Kneel for the Cross, I Stand for the Flag.”
“When you’re doing something for the veterans, you can’t do it halfway,” Don Jr. said.
There was plenty of volunteer help. Ron Willers of Norfolk worked a backhoe, and Hegemann Electric in Howells wired the lights. The Howells American Legion Post 155 organized a dedication ceremony that drew an estimated 200 to 250 people to the cornfield site on Nov. 10, the day before Veterans Day.
The Molacek family, which formerly operated a general store, D&A Service, along Highway 32, has several members who served in the military. Donald Molacek Sr., who died five years ago, faithfully flew an American flag at the store, which closed in 1995, as well as at his farm home. He also built metal flagpoles for every member of the family, so they could fly Old Glory, too.
Since the memorial was dedicated, there’s been a steady stream of traffic pulling off the highway to take a look. Molacek said he counted 50 cars and pickups on a recent day while combining.
The Molaceks, whose mother, Ardyth, was able to attend the dedication of the flags, said their father would have been proud of what they’ve done.
“He’d say my kids are just as good as I raised them,” Don Jr. said.