Even though much of Minnesota has reopened from pandemic-related restrictions, there wasn’t enough time to prepare Ft. Snelling National Cemetery of its annual Memorial Day ceremony, a program that usually draws tens of thousands to the sacred ground just south of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The limited crowd -- there were more media personnel than ceremony participants -- still were moved during the wreath-laying ceremony under gray skies and beneath an American flag hanging at half-staff.
Gov. Walz, whose family has a history of military service, was joined by US Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both daughters of Korean War veterans, each laid a single rose at the flag’s base before watching as a wreath for 2021 was moved into place.
“It’s just that reminder of what we have in common,” said Walz. “There’s no politics in this place, just patriots, and that’s the thing that always moves me.”
As is the custom of Memorial Day ceremonies, Echo Taps was played by long-time participants Tom Mullen and Joe Calova.
“The weather may be different, the site may be different, there are different aspects to it, but taps is always taps,” said Mullen, a veteran of Viet Nam. “It definitely emotional on Memorial Day.”
The participant who may have had more emotion than any was Klobuchar, whose father is buried not too far from Monday’s ceremony.
“I have not been there since his funeral,” she said. “It’s going to be hard, because I think about all the times he came out here. He came here all the time, always wearing his flag pin. He was really proud to be a veteran.”
Dedicated in 1939 near what is now Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Ft. Snelling is the final resting place for more than 180,000 veterans. Once again for Memorial Day, each headstone was decorated with a small American flag, many of them planted on Sunday by scores of volunteers.
“It’s amazing,” said Walz. “This is a labor of love, that these are folks that did this on their own. It’s a solemn reminder, that if you’re going to defend democracy and freedom it takes eternal vigilance.”