The aging glass-and-concrete chimes tower that dominates a corner of Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park stands quiet vigil over the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, its bells silenced to accommodate the living who have encroached on the resting dead.
The octagonal, 65-foot-tall amber glass and concrete tower — built in 1950 with donations from local veterans groups — serves as a permanent shrine for more than 5,000 veterans buried in its shadow, spanning conflicts from the War of 1812 to Vietnam.
The tower overlooks this part of the 144-acre memorial park with its towering flagpole and rows upon rows of uniform white marble headstones, earning it the sobriquet “Arlington of the West.”…