Reagan Peace Garden a Place of Mourning

The Ronald Reagan Peace Garden, which was built to mark the end of the Cold War and memorialize its threat to the nation’s security, became a place of mourning in Eureka as that security was shattered by terrorism.

Candles burned at the base of the monument built by Eureka College, where Reagan graduated in 1932. The retaining wall is plastered with notes students and others wrote about the attacks.

The gray slate flagstones underfoot bear a message written in red, white and blue chalk to the victims of the terrorist attacks: “Your light may have been extinguished, but your memory will burn forever.”