Thousands made their way to Ft. Snelling National Cemetery on Monday for Memorial Day, although some parts of the hallowed ground near MSP airport have more visitors.
Jeannie Adams of West Lakeland had to make a long trek to the opposite side the cemetery, where her grandparents are interred.
“They were World War II, so their gravesite is way over on the fence. Not many people visit there.” It’s not because people are forgetting ancestors who died for the country. It’s because there aren’t that many close relatives still alive to make that visit.
“It’s an older generation of people,” said Jeannie. “It’s just the way life is.” Life isn’t like that for some.
Josh and Mary Dold of Carver could have had a Memorial Day picnic with their two young sons. Instead, they brought them to Ft. Snelling. It's a place where the Dold family knows none of those buried beneath the flag-adorned headstones.
“Just wanted to come here, and make sure our boys knew why today is important for all of us who live in America,” said Josh
The experience made an impact on 9-year-old Silas Dold.
“Today is a day where I should respect the gravestones and not step on them,” he said, squinting against the bright sunshine that at times can be a rarity on Memorial Day in Minnesota.
“They fought for our freedom, we get freedom because they died,” he said, and his 7-year-old brother Liam agreed.
“They died for the United States of America,” he said.
