As Matthew Deel was tasked with crafting ideas for his Eagle Scout project for Rochester Scout Pack 317, he knew he didn’t simply want to check off all the boxes for his assignment.
He wanted to make a significant and permanent impact in his hometown.
Deel, a 2025 Rochester High School graduate, and his Eagle Scout mates were prompted to create something that benefits the community as a whole. The 18-year-old decided to create a military memorial courtyard at the Grand Mound Cemetery, featuring six flag poles with each branch of the U.S. military, custom pavers, a community rock garden and a Battlefield Cross statue carved by Tenino Stone Carver Steve Quillen.
The project took over a year, commencing with an unveiling event on Memorial Day. The Marine Corps League Joseph P. Beer Detachment 1119 attended and played “Taps,” a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, spoke, and the Grand Mound Rochester Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting.
“When we were first deciding the baseline of the project, it was a question of would you rather have something that just checked off the boxes or something that you could look back on 10 years from now and be like, ‘Wow, this is still here,’” Deel said. “You want to go all out for something like this because it’s the final thing for scouts.”
Deel has strong ties to the military community. His father, Michael, was a U.S. Marine, his grandfather served in the U.S. Army, and his great-grandfather started in the Army before transferring to the Air Force. Deel himself will be leaving for Air Force boot camp in September.
Deel received the green light on the project in February 2024 from both the cemetery and the scout council, and work began in July with a groundbreaking after fundraising efforts.
The initial budget was going to exceed $15,000, but Deel received plenty of help from a number of companies and organizations both tangibly and intangibly. Members of Centralia’s American Legion Grant Hodge Post 17 gave him advice on how to execute the project, Longview construction company JH Kelly helped with the flagpoles, and Lael’s Landscape & Stone Supply supplied the gravel.
The project came with a number of challenges. Deel and his team didn’t receive the bronze plaque on the statue until early May, and the statue with the plaque was not finalized until a week before the ceremony. Deel was also finishing high school and had a job.
“It was last minute. I know a week doesn’t seem like last minute, but it was a last minute thing,” Nancy Thompson, Deel’s mother, said. “Especially when you’re telling the community to come out for the ceremony and you’re coordinating with the Marine Corps League and the scout troops and you’re saying there’s going to be a statue unveiling.”
Deel said the challenges were worth it as he received plenty of feedback both during the process of construction and during the ceremony on Memorial Day.
“I got a lot of thank yous for this because there were a lot of veterans who showed up and looked at the project and were like, ‘Wow, this project is amazing. I’m really happy that this is here,’” Deel said. “We don’t really have anything local for our veterans here. The support was amazing from the community.”
Grand Mound Cemetery is located at 6300 183rd Ave. SW in Rochester and is open until dusk.
