Behind the powder blue building of the Bigfork Veterans of Foreign Wars post along Montana 35, a quiet transformation has been taking place to establish a dedicated sanctuary of remembrance. What started as an initiative to relocate a single tribute has evolved into an ambitious community project featuring four distinct monuments honoring military veterans and emergency personnel.
At the focal point of the gently sloping, shaded property rests the Benghazi Memorial, an installation that originally catalyzed the broader project. The centerpiece features a bronze eagle with a six-foot wingspan, depicted in mid-swoop atop a stone pedestal. It stands as the only known monument in the United States dedicated to the four Americans who died during the September 11, 2012, assault on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.
The memorial first took shape more than a decade ago through the efforts of Bill Thomas, a California firefighter and paramedic from Ventura County. After discovering via a local newspaper report that the parents of Tyrone Woods—a retired Navy SEAL and CIA operative killed in the Benghazi attack—had relocated to Bigfork, Thomas felt compelled to establish a tribute, despite having no prior personal relationship with the family.
To bring the project to life, Thomas partnered with local resident Doug Averill, who agreed to place the monument on his private elk preserve in 2014. In subsequent years, Thomas’s organization, the 9/11 Honor and Serve Foundation, organized yearly memorial gatherings at the property to commemorate the tragedies of both September 11, 2001, and September 11, 2012.
However, attendance at the 2025 ceremony dwindled significantly, raising concerns among those who were present. Among the attendees was Ron Wenzel, who currently serves as the quartermaster for the Bigfork VFW. The sparse crowd prompted him to reflect on the commitment to never forget the sacrifices made on those dates.
The solemnity of September 11 carries intense personal significance for Wenzel, who was serving as a police officer in New Jersey when hijacked aircraft struck the World Trade Center towers. Having lost close friends in the disaster, he subsequently enlisted in the military and went on to deploy to Afghanistan in 2011.
Reflecting on the low turnout, Wenzel concluded that the lack of public participation did not signal a lack of community reverence. Instead, he determined that the monument’s location behind locked gates on private land made it inaccessible and largely unknown to the general public, keeping it hidden from view.
Seeking a solution, Wenzel approached Thomas with a proposal to transfer the memorial to the grounds of the Bigfork VFW. Moving the site to the post on Montana 35 would grant the community unrestricted, open access to pay respects at any time. After Thomas embraced the suggestion, Wenzel formally secured authorization from the VFW board.
During an initial property walkthrough with Thomas and Averill, the vision for the site began to crystallize when Averill sketched a preliminary design on a napkin. That spontaneous concept has since directed the layout of the outdoor space, which is being shaped through local volunteer labor and generous community contributions.
A critical boost came from Skylar Johnson, a Bigfork resident, former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, and owner of Markay Johnson Construction. Johnson stepped forward to supply vital construction resources, providing backing that post leaders noted would have been impossible for the VFW to fund independently.
The grounds already feature a completed tribute to the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, constructed with twin stone pillars representing the fallen Twin Towers. Although initial plans focused solely on the terror attack tributes, the initiative quickly broadened as area veterans shared their own needs for a local place of reflection.
During a regular VFW gathering, a delegation of Vietnam War veterans voiced an emotional plea for a regional monument, explaining that traveling to the national memorial in Washington, D.C., was financially prohibitive for many former service members. In response, VFW organizers pledged to incorporate a Three Soldiers statue into the park’s layout.
The push to establish an accessible space for reflection arrives against the backdrop of significant mental health challenges among Montana's military community. Data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reveals that the veteran suicide rate in Montana is 1.5 times the national veteran average and roughly three times higher than the rate seen in the state’s general population.
Bigfork VFW Commander Steve Gordon emphasized the necessity of offering a dedicated retreat for healing, pointing out the severe toll suicide takes on veterans and the importance of having local resources and peaceful environments where individuals can find support and solace.
Looking ahead, the post is pursuing a second development phase that will add a Gold Star Family Memorial to commemorate families who have lost loved ones in military combat. Currently, Bozeman hosts the only such memorial in Montana, leaving local families—such as the parents of Captain Edward Matthew Saltz, the first Montana service member killed in action in Iraq in 2003—without a nearby site dedicated to their sacrifice.
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