June 10, 2007

• Minnesota WWII Memorial Dedication

  You can listen to John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever while you read this blog if you click on the arrow to turn on the player.

  On Saturday, our local Lions Clubs sponsored a bus to St. Paul so that veterans of WWII from our area could attend the dedication of the Minnesota WWII Memorial on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol.  Dan and I went along on the bus as representatives of our respective Lions Clubs.  The vets were very excited to be going.

  When we arrived, they were still putting the finishing touches on the decorations.  Here are some active duty military personnel placing flags along one of the walkways.

  

  These are the veterans who went in with us on our bus.  They were a spry bunch of men and were eager to get about the business of exploring the area, but they did wait long enough for a group picture.  Each WWII vet attending the ceremony received a medal.  Our vets did not have their medals yet when the picture was taken, which is too bad.  Anyone you see in the rest of the pictures wearing a red, white, and blue ribbon with a medallion is a WWII vet.

   

  Over 4,200 WWII vets from all over the state attended the dedication.  There were lots of reminders of military life to help them reminisce.  Hormel was there handing out free Spam.  That was a pretty popular spot.  If you’ve never had Spam or have never been convinced that it tastes awful, it’s actually pretty good!

  

  The Salvation Army was there with free coffee and donuts, and the Red Cross was there drawing blood.

  Here’s a pretty troop of USO girls.  They milled around in the crowd.  They performed, too, but I was not near enough at the time to be able to tell what they were doing.

  

  Many vets wore their uniforms.  I was very impressed that they still fit!  Look at all of this sailor’s medals!

  

  This vet is one of only a handful of men who survived the sinking of the USS Johnston during WWII.  He carried a sign to let everyone know.  I can’t imagine having a ship I was on shot out from under me!

  

  There were veterans from all the wars since World War Two present.  Here’s a WWII vet talking to a Desert Storm vet.  Most of the vets wore caps or something else to identify themselves as vets and let people know when they had served.  Some vets thanked men who served during different times for their service.  It was very touching.

  

  Many exhibits represented life in the field during WWII.  They were manned by young men in WWII uniforms, but this WWII vet seems to have found a moment alone in front of this tent to remember.
  

  

  This is the view towards the memorial from the Capitol steps.  This picture was taken about two hours before the dedication ceremony started and already the area was filling.  By the time for the ceremony, there would be 22,000 people on the Capitol Mall.

  

  Before the dedication ceremony began, there was a fly over of WWII aircraft.  The service itself began with the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.  This gunner’s mate from the USS Wichita was very reverently vowing his loyalty to his country.
  

  

  The men from all wars whose fates were never determined were remembered.
  

  

  The invocation was given by a WWII chaplain who jumped with the paratroopers during the war.

  Stan Kowalski honored the POW/MIA’s.  Stan is better known as Crusher Kowalski the wrestler.  He’s a great humanitarian and a very beloved Minnesotan.

  One of the female pilots who trained the fighter pilots spoke.  Did you know that women did the training of the pilots during WWII so that the male pilots could be overseas?

  Governor Pawlenty spoke last and did the actual dedication.  The ceremony ended with a performance of America the Beautiful.

  After the service, there was a cake and punch reception honoring the WWII vets who were present.

  Here’s a view of some of the narrative panels lining the walkway on each side of the Memorial.  The area was crowded all day with people reading them.
  

  

  This is the memorial itself with the plaque explaining it.  It’s a very unusual looking memorial.  (The memorial is that structure that looks like a ramp.)  The long descending slope represents the despair of the early war years.  There is a rapid, triumphal rise to the plaque which signals the eventual hope and the triumph of the end of the war.  The gun from the USS Ward which fired the first American shot in WWII stands beside the memorial.  Most of the crew of the Ward were from Minnesota.

  

    A person standing to read the plaque has a lovely view of the State Capitol.  There are memorials to the veterans of WWI, Korea, and Vietnam in the area, but none of them share this direct view of the Capitol.  This spot was given to the veterans of WWII because Minnesota feels that WWII was the pivotal event of its century.

  I was very happy to be able to attend the dedication and to share it with the veterans from our community.

  It’s unrelated, but I would like to share a bit of trivia about our State Capitol.  Did you know that the Minnesota Capitol has the largest unsupported marble dome in the world?  The second largest is in the Taj Mahal.  The dome at St. Peter’s in Rome is larger, but it is supported.

  • 6:41 pm
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