The Memorial is a public plaza with a formal arrangement of granite pillars bearing the names of more than 6100 fallen heroes from 35 East Tennessee counties who died in military service during named conflicts since World War I. Established in 2003, the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial. ETVMA is a private nonprofit 501(c)3 organization which provides for the maintenance and upkeep for the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial.  This including the annual engraving of new names of those service members from East Tennessee who have been killed in combat since the beginning of World War I.