SALEM, Ore. — An Afghan-Iraqi war memorial that has drawn criticism for its design and its timing was unveiled Saturday before a crowd of veterans and slain troops’ relatives.

There was little hint of the hullabaloo at the ceremony, which capped a two-year effort by a family whose son died in Iraq to raise private donations for the memorial.

Governor Kulongoski called the memorial “a place of prayer, contemplation, and reflection …a place where we can remember the brave hearts that we lost.”

The monument at the Capitol Mall features a large fountain and a bronze statue of a kneeling soldier with an outstretched hand. It includes a granite wall inscribed with the names of 74 soldiers or Marines with Oregon ties who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Some have questioned whether a memorial is appropriate while the fighting is still under way.

“It seems a little premature,” a Korean War veteran, John Theodore, 74, said, adding that he nevertheless came to the ceremony to show respect for the state’s fallen soldiers.

Many in attendance praised the new monument and its timing.

“It’s a healing place,” Betsy Jeffries, 23, whose husband, Joseph, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, said. “It’s been more than two years since my husband died. For me, that’s a long enough wait.”

Some state lawmakers who voted for the memorial now believe its approval process was flawed. And several architects have said the 40-foot-wide fountain could upstage other memorials at the Mall.

The head of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Jim Willis, said the hullabaloo reflects the public’s feelings about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

“People are conflicted about the war,”Mr. Willis said. “And there are some people who are still coming to grips with the loss of a loved one, and they are not ready for a memorial like this.”