My dad was a WWII vet who died in 2003.  He’s buried out at Fort Snelling National Cemetary.    My mom passed in 2007 and is buried next to him.   My family is going out there today to pay our respects because it’s so difficult to get in the cemetary on Memorial Day itself.  It’s a difficult day for us, of course, and if Dad hadn’t been a vet we’d be visiting their graves on some other regular occasion.    Dad went into the Army Reserves after the war, and stayed in until he retired in the early 1980’s.    While a big reason he went into the reserves was to suppliment his wages to support our family, he was very proud of his Army career and retired as a full Colonel in the early 1980’s.   Being in the reserves meant going to two evening meetings every month and spending two weeks on active duty at “summer camp” – either at Camp Ripley up north, or Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin.  He was in the Army Corps of Engineers, and his unit out at Fort Snelling did planning for logistics in supporting war games at those camps.   My recollection of them is of two major scenarios.  One was preventing the Russians from invading Wisconsin through Canada, and the other was for a campaign in Saudi Arabia.   All through my childhood, he had stacks of Army field guides and maps in our basement where they remain to this day.   Dad was something of a packrat, a trait my sister and I seem to have both inherited.  Anyway, when the first Gulf War broke out in 1991, I joked to him that the US couldn’t invade Saudi Arabia because the plans were still in our basement!

But in thinking about this holiday, it strikes me that we civilians haven’t been doing a good job of imbuing our children with the a sense of duty to our country, much less our communities, and the obligation we all have to  honor the service of these men and women of our Armed Forces.   I don’t want to get too preachy here, but please tell your kids that these men and women deserve our respect and praise for stepping up and doing difficult jobs for our country.   If you have a chance, take them to one of the many local events on Monday.   The Sunday newspaper lists the ones in the Twin Cities area.   Let them see the honor guards and the ceremonies and then explain to them why these men and women are so proud and why we should be proud of them.   Making memories is always a great staycation.   You can see the ceremonies in the morning and have the rest of the day to celebrate with your family.  Thank-you.

Update: Memorial Day

My brother-in-law had to go to the doctor on Sunday, so we made our trip to see our parents’ graves at Fort Snelling National Cemetary and Lakewood Cemetary today.   An article in the Sunday Star-Tribune reminded me about the Memorial Rifle Squad at Fort Snelling.  These are volunteers who provide honor guards for veterans like my dad, but they also provide mourners for vets who die without family or friends.    My dad did some volunteer work at the Fort Snelling Cemetary as well as at the Serviceman’s Center at the airport.  These groups all support military personell and their families and deserve our support.  You can send donations to the Rifle Squad at:

Memorial Rifle Squad
Fort Snelling National Cemetary
7601 34th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55450