All of the veterans’ graves in Cook County cemeteries received U.S. flags denoting their service and sacrifice to the country. These flags (above) were placed in the Maple Hill cemetery, which was visited by many people on Memorial Day. Staff photos/Brian Larsen
Instead of assembling on the courthouse lawn in the brisk cool rain American Legion Post 413 asked members of the public to gather inside the warm, friendly confines of Grandma Ray’s to hold the annual Memorial Day observation.
Once the word got out, it didn’t take long to fill up the place for the 11 a.m. start of the ceremonies.
Post 413 Commander Bob Mattson asked Pastor Kris Garey to open with a prayer.
Amy Carpenter, just a ninth-grader, followed, filling the room with her beautiful voice as she sang the national anthem.
Next, a somber Mattson recounted the many places in foreign lands that Americans had died fighting for our freedoms: Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Philippines, etc., and the numbers of fallen soldiers lost in those wars: World War I claimed 116,078 U.S. soldiers. More than 407,000 Americans perished in World War II, almost 40,000 more fell in Korea, 58,220 gave their lives in Vietnam, and 4,800 died in the Iran conflict and the Persian Gulf War, and to date, more than 2,200 have died in Afghanistan, a war that is still ongoing.
Amy Carpenter lent her voice and talents to the Memorial Day service by singing the national anthem.
For those loved ones who lost brothers or sisters in war and wanted to bury them at home, Bob recounted a recent case of a Virginia, Minnesota soldier, Dante Tini who was killed in World War II and who had been listed as an MIA for the past 77 years. His remains had been found in a mass grave and identified and sent home to his Virginia, Minnesota family who had never forgotten him and were thankful to lay him to rest.
“And what of the soldiers who come back with broken bodies and damaged minds?” Mason asked. Their sacrifice as well can never be forgotten, he added.
Bob said a few kind words about the members of the community who had served in the military but passed away over the last year. He ever so slowly read the names of the 14 people who at one time put on a uniform and took an oath to serve their country: Dan Childs, Dave Asproth, James Nelson, Robert Dahl, Duane Johnson, Richard Lund, Dave Palmer, Lyle Gerard, Linder Pederson, Rolf Skrien, Gerald Osowski, George Maruska, Robert Loney and John McElevey.
Traveling to the Twin Cities, Bob said he would often stop at Fort Snelling to visit his father’s grave. While there it was not unusual to observe a hearse slowly rolling into the cemetery followed by vehicles carrying family members. A sermon would follow, a folded flag would be presented, then shots would be fired, and Taps would be played… another veteran laid to rest, he said, adding that this scenario takes place every day at Fort Snelling.
Following Mattson’s tribute, Jack Willis and Jonah Schmidt played Taps, echoing one another.
The color guard stepped outside the restaurant’s doors and gave a gun salute to the fallen, and then Mattson thanked the crowd who mostly stayed to enjoy the food and hospitality at Grandma Ray’s, where a free meal was offered to veterans.
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