The plaque reads:
JIM'S POND
This nature area is dedicated to CAPT. JAMES HAMM U.S.A.F.
M.I.A. Mar. 14, 1968 and to
ALL St. Vrain Valley PEOPLE
who served in Vietnam War
***
Enjoy Jim Hamm Nature Area
Given to the City of Longmont 1974
"WHO MORE THAN SELF THEIR COUNTRY LOVED"
FROM "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"
The line comes from the third stanza of the poem, 'America the Beautiful,' in its entirety below:
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thorough-fare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control,
Thy liberty in law.
O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country lov'd
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
More about Captain Hamm may be found at (
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Severa Waymarks to Bates may be found at (
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Information about the Jim Hamm Nature Area may be found at (
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