The last few days have left me traveling through Patterson, Iowa.  It’s a small town with a zip code but no post office and sits just off Highway 92, east of Winterset, Iowa.  On main street, near the boxes where residents now get their mail, is a dilapidated old memorial to two young men.

They were Jesse Russell Salsbury, a one time resident, and his buddy from Illinois, Joseph Downs.  The pair met in the Iowa National Guard in 1917.  Later that year, preparing to leave for France, they erected a flag pole in the Salsbury yard in Patterson.  In the wet concrete they both inscribed their names, below which they each wrote “Shot in France.”  On May 27^th, 1918 the pair was killed there in a gas attack on their trench.

In 1923, the town stood the slab on end and made a monument of it.  You could crisscross this country a thousand times and never see it once.  The story is only a local one, and there are no signs directing you to it from the highway.

Perhaps someday, in an effort to raise funds for the memorial, they will set another flag pole in the Salsbury front yard and raffle chances to leave an inscription on it.  Were I to buy that winning ticket, I’d write, “Dan Hanrahan–Died in his sleep.”  When the crowd had left, I’d might add another name or two before the concrete dried.

Children inherently know real places aren’t found on maps.  Somewhere along the line we convince ourselves they are.  We grow old, and believe the lies in our old age our young minds no better than to entertain.  Somewhere in between all of it were Salsbury and Downs.  Its youth that is unable to resist the temptation of wet concrete, and old age that knows how hard it gets.

At the actual site today is the remains of a wreath, having lost its round and unrecognizable.  Above it is an enclosed case, detailing the story. Alongside the story are pinned a few photos, all bleached and faded beyond description. All but one. The lone picture that survives is of J. Russell Salsbury and his friend Downs. Wherever they are standing, it isn’t found on any map.  Someplace just as real now as it was then.