"The big thing to me is the 25 unmarked graves. I'm going to find out who they are," said Howe, the cultural liaison at St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago.

Howe has erected wooden crosses at 15 of these graves and will place crosses at the other unmarked graves. He hopes to identify them all and get them the permanent stone marker to which they are entitled.

When he moved to the area 10 years ago to be with his mother, Howe noticed the condition of the grave markers and thought something should be done. As a warrior himself, what the Omahas refer to as Hethuska, he saw it as his duty to honor these veterans.

"The vast majority of them were combat veterans, and that hit me," Howe said. "It's not about me, it's about the veterans. I look at the names and wonder who they were, where they came from."

As he works among the stones, Howe has met relatives of those veterans. He's spoken with tribal elders. They share stories of these veterans, bringing their memory and accomplishments to life.

It makes him more determined to finish the project, which he said is about a quarter of the way done.