A portion of U.S. Highways 2 & 97 have been memorialized as the World War II Veterans Memorial Highway.

Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) spokesperson Lauren Loebsack says the honorific stretch of highway is between the Odabashian Bridge north of Wenatchee and the Beebe Bridge near Chelan Falls.

"It's to honor the thousands of people who served during World War II. From the men and women in uniform to all the civilians who also served, as well as the 3,941 men and women from Washington State who gave their lives for the World War II effort."

Loebsack says there are numerous highways or portions of highways in the state which have been dedicated in such a way and the process for this designation is always similar.

"There is a process through the Washington State Transportation Commission to do these sorts of dedications for sections of highway. We (DOT) were able to make the signs for the World War II Veterans Memorial Highway, so we will now be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the signage."

The effort to memorialize the 35-mile stretch of highway was started by local resident David Schwab in 2021.

Schwab is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3617 and American Legion Post 10 who ran a public petition and enlisted support from various municipalities before submitting the idea to the state's Transportation Commission.

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