Arizona Silent Service Memorial groundbreaking in front of state Capitol

PHOENIX - With shovels in the ground... this is a moment that seemed out of reach not long ago.

"Disturbed that we didn't think it would ever get made, it's been a long six years," said Donald Unser. "Emotions and feelings of joy are indescribable."

Soon on this spot, a beautiful memorial will be placed in front of the state Capitol.

It's called the Arizona Silent Service Memorial. It's in honor of the men and women veterans of submarine service, like Donald Unser who served on two submarines in 20 years of service.

He said it will show many of the sacrifices that have been silently made.

"They’re at the bottom of the ocean, nobody knows where they are, nobody knows anything about them other than they didn’t come home, so now we have a memorial that’s going to show the rest of Arizona there are people out there serving and pushing for their liberty," Unser said.

The memorial will be 14 feet long and 11 feet tall. It took six years to get to this point with obstacles along the way, but now, the veterans say they're just weeks away from seeing a memorial years in the making.

"I can't wait until it's done," Unser said.