This transcript covers the 2024 Memorial Day event for the City of Cottage Grove. I have identified the speakers based on their self-introductions and the introductions provided by the primary emcee, Councilmember Justin Olsen. [00:00] **[Music]** [01:14] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us here at City Hall for our 2024 Memorial Day event. This event was organized by several folks that are in the room, so if you would just bear with me for a moment. I’d like to thank all of the members of the Mississippi River Valley Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team, along with our Cottage Grove Public Safety team, the Park and Recreation team here in Cottage Grove, our administrative staff, and our friends from Washington County who are here with their Honor Guard. Before we get started this morning, I just want to take a moment to recognize some folks who joined us, including Sheriff Dan Starry from Washington County. We have several elected officials with us this morning, including Commissioner Carla Bigham from Washington County, Mayor Myron Bailey, Cottage Grove Councilmember Monique Garza, Cottage Grove Councilmember Tony Khambata, Cottage Grove Councilmember Dave Thiede, and yours truly, Cottage Grove Councilmember Justin Olsen. I also want to welcome Hastings City Councilmember Jen Fox and Afton City Councilmember Lucia Wroblewski. I also want to recognize Melissa Finney from the Cottage Grove VFW, where she serves as the Junior Vice Commander and is the Senior Vice Commander-elect. The president of our Mississippi River Valley Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team is Ray Kane, and we're very grateful to have our guest speaker with us today, Herb Reckinger, who I’ll tell you a little bit more about later on in the program. Today is a day of remembrance. Today is a day to honor the fallen, and today is a day to pause for just a moment. Even though it's the long holiday weekend and we're busy and we have all sorts of things going on in our busy lives, we should pause and we should give thanks. Freedom is not free, as we all know, and today is the day that we thank those who laid down their lives so that we can have the freedoms we enjoy today. Would the Honor Guard please post the colors? [03:40] **[Music/Silence during Posting of the Colors]** [04:45] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much to the members of our Washington County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard, along with our own Cottage Grove Public Safety Department Sergeant Mike McCormack and Sergeant Nils Torning for presenting the colors. At this point, I would like to welcome Hastings City Councilmember Jen Fox to the podium, where she will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. [05:07] **Councilmember Jen Fox:** Thank you, Justin. It's an honor to be here with all of you today. Please join me in facing the flag and placing your hand on your heart. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. [05:32] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much, Councilmember Fox. We appreciate your contribution to today's program. And now we move to the National Anthem, which will be performed by international recording artist and Cottage Grove resident Jonah Weingarten. You can sing along if you would like; the lyrics are in your program. [05:54] **Jonah Weingarten:** [Sings the National Anthem] Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? [07:37] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Jonah. That was beautiful, and thank you to everybody who sang along, drowning out my terrible voice. I appreciate that very much. As you know, we're gathered here on Memorial Day to remember and honor the fallen, and I've invited Councilmember Dave Thiede to come to the podium to speak with you today about the meaning of Memorial Day. Councilmember Thiede. [08:02] **Councilmember Dave Thiede:** Thank you, Councilmember Olsen. Glad to see everyone here today. It turns out that we came inside, but Mother Nature gave us a little bit of a break, maybe. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. It is difficult to prove the origins of the day, as over two dozen towns and cities lay claim to be the birthplace. In May 1966, President Lyndon Johnson stepped in and officially declared Waterloo, New York, the birthplace of Memorial Day. Regardless of the location of origin or the exact date, one thing is crystal clear: Memorial Day was born out of the Civil War, which ended in 1865, and also a desire to honor our dead. On the 5th of May in 1868, General John Logan, who was the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, officially proclaimed it in his General Order Number 11. In the order, the General proclaimed: "The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land." Because the day wasn't the anniversary of any particular battle, the General called it the date of Decoration Day. On the first Decoration Day, 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington Cemetery, while then-General and future President of the United States James Garfield made a historic speech. New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday in 1873. It was recognized by all Northern states by 1890. Differently, the South refused to acknowledge the day and honored their dead on separate days. This went on until after World War I, when the holiday changed from honoring just those who had died in the fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans fighting in any war. Thank you. [10:19] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much, Councilmember Thiede. Well done. As you look forward and you can see our elected officials and distinguished guests, if you look to the left, you'll see a table. There is no one seated at the table, and that is on purpose. Here to explain why is Carla Bigham, our Washington County Commissioner, to tell you about the Fallen Soldier Table. [10:41] **Commissioner Carla Bigham:** Thank you, everybody, for being here today, and thank you for everybody who organized this event. On this Memorial Day, we honor the fallen soldier. This table is reserved to honor our brave and selfless American military members who have perished on the battlefield, those who have not been returned to us after being taken prisoner on foreign soil, and for those who went missing and have not found their way back home. The table is round to show our everlasting concern for our fallen and our missing. The table set for one is small, symbolizing the fragility of one prisoner alone against his or her oppressors. The white tablecloth symbolizes the purity of their intentions to respond to their country's call to arms. The single red rose reminds us of the life of each of our fallen and the loved ones and friends who miss them each and every day. The vase is tied with a red ribbon, a symbol of our continued determination to remember our fallen and find our missing. The slices of lemon on the plate are to remind us of the bitter fate of those who will never return. A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears endured by friends and families of those who have fallen and those who have not returned. The inverted wine glass—they cannot toast with us at this time. The empty chair—they are no longer with us. The candle is reminiscent of the light of hope which lives in our hearts to illuminate their way home from their captors to the open arms of a grateful nation. Thank you. [12:15] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much, Commissioner Bigham, for that wonderful explanation of the Fallen Soldier Table. To follow that, we have a prayer that I would like Councilmember Monique Garza to please read in honor of the fallen. [12:30] **Councilmember Monique Garza:** Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for being here. The prayer reads: "We remember them. When we are weary and in need of strength, when we are lost and sick at heart, we remember them. When we have a joy we crave to share, when we have decisions that are difficult to make, when we have achievements that are based on theirs, we remember them. At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of the winter, at the opening of the buds and the rebirth of spring, we remember them. At the blueness of the skies and the warmth of the summer, at the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn, we remember them. At the rising of the sun and in its setting, we remember them. As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now part of us. Help us, God, to focus on that which enables us to keep going. Remind us that time will never erase the memories and that for a moment we're not alone as we sit here together as we remember them. Amen." [13:38] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Councilmember Garza. That was beautifully done and very appropriate for the occasion. As I mentioned earlier, we are grateful to have the members of our Cottage Grove Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team here. You'll find that most are seated in the front; however, we have our president seated here, Ray Kane, who I've invited to spend a few minutes addressing the crowd with a little bit about the mission of Beyond the Yellow Ribbon and the reason that we're here today. Ray. [14:10] **Ray Kane:** Thank you for all showing up. I appreciate it. Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, my name is Ray Kane. I'm the Department Service Officer for the American Legion Department of Minnesota and the Board President for Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Cottage Grove and surrounding areas. Today we stand together and pay homage to a million of our courageous men and women who sacrificed and made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation since the dawn of the American Revolution. Each name, each story represents a beacon of courage, sacrifice, and represents the unwavering dedication. Behind every story is a life prematurely ended and families forever altered in profound loss of loved ones. As we reflect upon the valor of our brothers and sisters, let us pay special attention and tribute to our Vietnam veterans. These brave souls returned home to a nation that at that time wasn't ready for them. We did not fully recognize the sacrifice, yet they upheld their oath, their honor, and their integrity. Their sacrifices are etched into the fabric of our history and will never ever be forgotten. Being proud Americans, it is critical that we acknowledge the freedoms that we enjoy today; it comes at a significant price. This price was paid by those who selflessly served and made an ultimate sacrifice. It is because of them and their sacrifice that we are here today. We are gathered here today because of them, to remember and honor their legacy. Many of the fallen heroes lie in eternal rest in places like Norway and Normandy American Cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery, and countless cemeteries in our hometowns across the nation. They fought for peace, for freedom, and their legacy continues in the lives of our hearts and our minds. We stand here today and let us vow to never ever forget their bravery and their sacrifice and their unwavering commitment to duty. And may they rest in peace. Thank you for joining us today to pay tribute to our fallen heroes. God bless America and God bless those families who lost loved ones. Thank you. [16:47] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Ray. We very much appreciate your service to our country as a retired veteran and your service to all of our veterans in your role with the American Legion here in Minnesota. Now, typically if we were outdoors, we would have a ceremony during which members of our Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team would lay yellow roses on each of the headstones that we have at our Veterans Memorial, representing each branch of our Armed Forces. Unfortunately, because of the weather, we moved inside today. So we had that ceremony prior to this event, and our friends at the South Washington County Cable Commission were kind enough to take some drone footage of that. When this event is rebroadcast, you will have the opportunity to see that drone footage, but we will not be laying roses on the headstones at this moment. Instead, as we look to our Vietnam veterans and that era of military service, we find that we are losing those folks at a more rapid pace than we would like. So today we wanted to really take a moment to honor Vietnam veterans, especially the ones who never came home. And to do so, we have a tremendous guest speaker today. His name is Herb Reckinger. Herb is a longtime Cottage Grove resident and he's also the current chair of the Cottage Grove Historic Preservation Commission. Herb grew up in South St. Paul but moved to Cottage Grove with his family 50 years ago. He served in the United States Naval Reserve and is a member of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the same organization that built the iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund also has what Herb considers to be the best version of the traveling memorial wall, which is known as "The Wall That Heals," that crosses the United States every year to spend a week at a time at dozens of sites throughout the nation. And when the Wall That Heals comes to this area, Herb is asked to provide assistance to the VVMF site managers to make sure that things go smoothly and that people have the opportunity to honor the fallen. This is Herb's third year in that role. In addition to his 15 years of volunteer work for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund thus far, Herb has been able to visit 15 sites in total with many more to come, and that of course has left him with many stories, some of which he will share with us today. We're truly honored to have Herb Reckinger as our guest speaker. I have no doubt that he will definitely meet the challenge of honoring the fallen, especially our Vietnam veterans era soldiers. Herb. [19:18] **Herb Reckinger:** You bet. First, I'd like to start off with—anybody that's a veteran, raise your hands. Wow, give them a hand. [Applause]. There's at least a couple Vietnam veterans that I know—could they raise their hands? There's a number of them too [Applause]. I could talk all day and night. Okay, so I'll start in. Two years ago, the Wall turned 40 years old. So everything they did that year on their website was done in 40s: 40 songs of the era, 40 books of the era. They wanted 40 iconic stories, and I helped with 40 iconic photos that are on the Wall. Anyway, I was asked to do a writing about maybe one of the experiences I had in a thousand words. So I didn't do it for one guy; I did it for as many as I could. I'm going to read this first—this is two years old, but it still pertains. "How does one begin to appreciate the sacrifice of the men and women of the Vietnam era? All who served are honored every day by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. Here, the service members who gave their lives have their names etched on the black granite panels. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund—Justin helped us out here, VVMF is the abbreviation for it—are the founders and keepers of the Wall. In the years since the dedication of the Wall—that was on Veterans Day in 1982—the organization has gone well beyond the Wall to make sure that these guys and these women all matter." You don't know there was eight ladies on the Wall that died over there, and over 10,000 lady nurses served. "There now is 'The Wall That Heals,' that's a traveling wall he alluded to. The 'Wall of Faces'—that's a picture project; I've contributed a great number of pictures in the last 10 years—and then the 'In Memory' program, I'll explain that a little bit, and any number of educational programs available to the public. It is a Wall of Faces where the photos, stories, and written remembrances of the 58,281 service members—their names are united by their names on the Wall. The photos are service photos as well as photos from their high school era; maybe there's even kid and baby pictures of some of these guys and even earlier in their mostly brief lives. These pictures sometimes tell a story better than a writing; they sometimes beg one to learn more through the stories written as remembrances. Now we come to know that these men and women lived lives not all that different from any of us. They were just—most of them were just regular kids who might have gone to school with you." Without the Wall of Faces, how do we know that Carey Gosman begged his parents, like so many did, to join the Army at the age of 17? The youngest we had was 15 years old—he was Dan Bullock, 15 years old, he fooled two different branches of the service to get in. John Shell came to America and the U.S. Army; he was an Englander from Liverpool and belonged to the rock band The Hideaways. The band played at the Cavern Club more times than the early Beatles. We might not ever know that David Kern was homeless most of his life. If you left your car unlocked overnight in the winter near North Ray Street in St. Paul, there was a good chance David would be found sleeping in your back seat. David was taken in by a family, turned his life around, joined the Army, and was KIA—Killed in Action—in Vietnam in 1966. Daniel Laughlin played high school hockey for the Aitkin Bears in northern Minnesota; in one game, he scored four goals, three of them in 39 seconds. On the Wall of Faces, Roger McAllister of New Hampshire is pictured by Pulitzer Prize winner and German photojournalist Horst Faas. It was a day when Roger nearly died of heat exhaustion, only to die in an ambush by an ambush sniper a month later. Eugene Johnson never graduated from high school; he couldn't have. Following junior high school, Eugene worked at the South St. Paul car wash before joining the U.S. Marines. We would never know what a great young man Henry Hill was. He graduated from high school in Anoka, Minnesota; he excelled in multiple sports, but track is where he became one of the finest at Mankato State University. We would never know what he meant to his family and classmates and anyone who knew him. Minnesotan Richard Mishuk—he went to St. Bernard's. He went missing in 1966 with two other Marines, Wadowski and Burke, they were both from Illinois. The three Marines went swimming and never returned—I mean, they never returned. Without the Wall of Faces, we would never see Richard's chronology of life in his photo section. Richard's parents kept a picture book after he went missing, entitled it "U.S. Marine." The book was shared with the VVMF by the Mishuk family; 100 photos could have been used. Richard is still MIA. So MIA means Missing in Action. Our nation has, this morning, 1,553. Yet there are 33 of them from Minnesota. Keith Christopherson and Richard Weir were the last two Minnesotans to die in Vietnam. 45 years later, Keith’s sister wrote a letter on Keith’s Wall of Faces page. At the end she said, "Thanks for inviting me to walk down memory lane and spend some time with my big brother again after so many years to share a bit of a story to go with his name on the Vietnam Memorial." It’s a story and it's a name. Each guy on that Wall—behind that name, there's a family, there's a story, there's pictures. It's so simple. Without the Wall, they are nameless; without the Wall of Faces, they are faceless. Here's one more. Without the Wall, we would never know Sharon Lane's path to Vietnam: her graduation from South Canton High School in Ohio, her career in nurses' training, and nearly eight years in nursing including a year in Vietnam before she was killed in 1969 when her temporary hospital tent took a direct artillery hit. Every person named on the Wall has a family, a face, and a story. Most of those that served and were killed were younger, but they sure crammed a lot into their short lives. William Crockett has a sister. Ronald Krebsbach has a daughter—and they missed each other by three weeks. Thomas Scell has a niece that he held one time when she was an infant. All three of these women have but one wish for their loved ones, and that is for them to be remembered. It's up to us to make sure, and it's the least we can do. Thanks to the city, we worked with them, and William Crockett has a plaque at the new Hamlet baseball fields. You have to go in by the Post Office, but just go up to the flag; it's right alongside of it. So I have a few other things here. Okay, I'll go over our local guys here. This is Ray Hewitt. If you have a hard time seeing this picture, go online; they'll look a lot better there. All our five guys grew up on the other side of the highway from us. Ray was supposed to graduate with the class of '71. He didn't always go to school, and anyway, when his senior class was in their second month of their senior year, Ray died in Vietnam. He has a brother, John Hewitt, who is one of our Minnesota Reps. Mark Steely—what a great picture of him with an obituary from Cook Funeral Home. I was able to track his two sisters out in Conifer, Colorado; they sent that great picture of Mark. He was Air Force. This is Arnold Ads. I told you these pictures can be everything. This is his "clown" picture; he was like a cut-up kid at Park High. And Arnie—he had all sisters. If you drive down Broadway and cross the railroad tracks into St. Paul Park, his house was the first one on the left, but it was his mom and his sisters. His mom was a Whitbred—he's Charlie Whitbred, the one that's our age, they were cousins to each other. He's the only one buried in the Newport Cemetery. The nearest ones after that are all buried at Fort Snelling, primarily. This is Billy Christensen. He, Arnie Ads, and Mark Steely—they're all from the class of '67, a kind of brand-new Park High School back then, just a couple years old. But you wonder why they weren't all buried at Snelling—you can do it for nothing, but a lot of times those family ties, those religious ties [matter]. Billy Christensen is buried at the Lutheran Cemetery across from Oak Hill in South St. Paul, right alongside his parents. There's a great picture of him taken on the side of his helicopter, a Huey, and the date is on it, and it's July of '70. So that film was developed the same month and year that he was killed, so that could have been the helicopter he died in. And here's William Crockett, nice color picture for him. He's still missing in action, so we have an MIA from Cottage Grove. If you stand at the Wall—you're going to have to use your imagination here—there's a 125-degree angle to it. Right up here is the year 1959. Right down here is 1975. The Wall starts and ends right there. From 1959, they go out 70 panels that way, they come back at the 70th panel down there and come down to 1975. William Crockett—if I’m at the Wall That Heals, the traveling wall, he's about this high. And if he's at the Wall in Washington, D.C., he's about this high on me. I saw that there was a Hastings lady going to be here today... Jen, where did you go? Right there. Here's our two guys, Dwayne Foss and Lauren Swanson. One was a city kid, one was a farm kid, but they both graduated from the class of '66. They almost had to know each other. These pictures look better on the website. So to tell you a little bit about the Wall: it's made of black granite in Washington, D.C. It’s 500 feet long, granite this thick—you couldn't replicate that. But the wall they have now that's been out, that the VVMF has—they started out with a five-foot version in the mid-90s, they went to the three-quarter version in 2018. So it's only 375 feet long—that's longer than a football field with end zones by 15 more feet. And instead of 10 feet tall at the middle of the Vietnam Wall, it's only seven and a half feet tall. So it's a great thing to bring to these communities. You ask people, "Would you like to see a picture of your loved one?" You always ask. Sometimes a serviceman can't do that; he can't look at that picture of that buddy that died in his place, maybe. So anyway, yeah, I'll go on here. When you go to the Wall, this first panel here, that’s "1 East." That encompasses approximately the first five years of death in Vietnam. The panel next to it, "2 East," the following five months. The panel next to it, the following five weeks. It gets worse, worse, worse. You get halfway down, you'll get into 1968, the year of the Tet Offensive. We lost just under 17,000 people that year. Just under 30% of them died in that year alone. So to depict that year, it takes over half the panels going that way, resumes down at the other end, and comes back over halfway there. And in this panel here, 1975, that encompasses the last four years of death in Vietnam. And when you think about this—everybody in that war has been gone for over 50 years. The war had two endings: 1973 with the treaty, and then the fall of Saigon. So there's still 52 service members—the last of the eight ladies, Mary Klinker, she's in that group that died in '75. Everybody else has been gone over 50 years. I told you about "In Memory." It's one of their programs. That's for people who served in Vietnam, survived, and had their lives shortened by their service. Maybe one that you would all know might be Pat Beard; he was also a Rep for our state, he represented the city of Cottage Grove. Pat's on there—a Navy picture and an older picture. This is an easy thing to do. I got cards here when this is over; I think I got enough for everybody. Anybody that comes up can have a card. If you look up "In Memory," it's simple: you need his death certificate to prove that he's not alive, and you need the DD-214 to prove he served in Vietnam, and those couple of nice pictures. There are a couple—not celebrities, but Waite Norris is on the wall, he died in 1970; he’s Chuck Norris the actor's brother. Ronald McLean died in 1969; he's the actor Jimmy Stewart's stepson. Harry Taylor was from Hibbing; he’s pictured in a Minnesota Twins uniform. He didn't play for our Twins, but he played for the Twins' Grapefruit League out on the West Coast. He didn't live long enough to ever know if he'd ever have a chance at our Minnesota Twins. Thomas Holden—does everybody know how good Navy football teams are in college these years? In 1964, 60 years ago, they played in the Cotton Bowl for the national title and lost against Texas. Thomas Holden played both ways in that game; he had tackles, but he also played offense. Anybody know who his quarterback might have been? Roger Staubach. Okay, and then if you have another chance, look up Michael Blassie (B-L-A-S-S-I-E). He is the reason that there is nothing in the Tomb of the Unknown at Arlington National Cemetery for Vietnam. That will always remain empty. His remains were identified; the family felt his remains were better returned to his family than there. I mean, they buried him wherever, but it's just a great thing knowing from now on we will never—that signifies we will never have another set of missing remains. Anybody who gets in the service, your DNA is checked right now, you know, the first or second day. So if you have remains, you have identification; thankfully, that'll never happen again. So one more interesting guy—this guy is Larry Thorne (Thorne with an 'e' at the end). He was from Finland, and in World War II, he hated Communism. At the same time the Russians invaded Finland—the same time in September that Hitler invaded Poland—he was 19, he hated them back then. He could do all kinds of terrible things to Communists. He was elevated; they had a big bounty on his head in Russia. He became a Green Beret, and he's the character in the Green Berets movie—it's kind of a fact-fiction thing with John Wayne. This guy was big; he was better than John Wayne. But anyway, he went missing for over 30 years with three South Vietnamese guys. He's buried at Arlington right where he rightfully belongs. But I'll show you the middle picture for him. Anybody recognize that uniform? SS Waffen. After the Winter War with Finland with the Russians, he went to the Germans and told them, "I want to fight with you guys, but I will only fight on the Eastern Front." He did not want to fight our Western allies; he wanted to fight the Russians. So what did he do? His spent his whole career fighting Communism, and he somehow got to America when the war was over. Finland banned him for a long time, but look him up—he has one of the most amazing stories of anybody on the Wall. So I'll close with one more little story, and that's the story of Keith Christopherson, and I mentioned his name already. He was from South St. Paul, he graduated in '64, and he was on the Ranger aircraft carrier. This was when the treaty took place at the end of January in 1973. If him and Richard Weir (from Mankato) and the pilot Charles Parker (from San Diego)—if they lived one more week, they're probably alive, because the treaty took place six days later. LBJ dies the next day after their incident. But they launched off the deck of the Ranger, and everybody knows what happens when you shoot a slingshot and one of the rubber bands breaks—you don't hit your target. The right buckle broke on their launch cable. They went up about 100 feet and plunged to the bottom of the Gulf of Tonkin. I always thought it'd be easy to find remains in the Gulf of Tonkin, but it's as big as the ocean and it's as deep as the ocean. Their remains were never found. And he has so many parallels of life with William Crockett from our side of the river. Think about these things: they were both born in '46; they graduated from South St. Paul and Park High School in '64; they both earned degrees at the University of Minnesota; they both flew, one for the Navy, one for the Air Force. They have two very dedicated sisters who wrote really nice pieces about each of them. And if you look them up, they were born one day apart from each other. So thanks everybody for bearing with me, and I appreciate it. Thank you. [Applause] [35:10] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** When he says he could talk all day, believe him because it's true. He has many more stories to tell, and he's a wonderful storyteller. So we're very grateful to Herb Reckinger for sharing those wonderful memories with us and honoring those who have not yet returned. I would now like to invite Afton City Councilmember Lucia Wroblewski to the podium where she will read a Memorial Day poem for us. Lucia. [35:41] **Councilmember Lucia Wroblewski:** First, I'd like to say what an incredible honor it is to attend this, and thank you to all the veterans. It's a distinct honor to read this remarkable poem. It's written by United States Army veteran Brock Jones. The poem is called "Memorial from a Park Bench." "Here is an unopened book, stranger you greet like a friend with reciprocated kiss. Here touch is required. Visitors descend to meet names arranged in order. A word loses its ability to conjure, trapped inside a black mirror. The names could be lines of poems or a grocery list. They could be just lines. But even before you're close enough to read, you know they are names, because everyone knows the names here. Here is names stacked on names stacked on panels of more. Here are names in black stone and your only reflection." [36:58] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you very much, Councilmember Wroblewski. As you might imagine, that poem was written by a veteran after visiting the Wall in Washington, D.C. And to me, it carried great significance about our event today. So when we think about Memorial Day, one of the things that we have to remember is that all that we've lost from our Armed Forces, that cost in lives given freely for the freedoms that we enjoy today—that was done for love of country. And if you know anyone in the Armed Forces, you know that love of country comes first and foremost when they take the oath. So today, I've asked our guest Jonah Weingarten, who was kind enough to share the National Anthem with us earlier, to play a song in their honor—love of country, and what I think they would say to all of us standing here today, which is "God Bless America." So if you would, please join us, Jonah. [37:58] **Jonah Weingarten:** [Performs "God Bless America" on piano] [39:46] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Beautifully done, Jonah. Thank you very much [Applause]. As the lyrics in your program read: "From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home." God bless those who gave all for this nation. God bless their families, God bless their friends and loved ones. We stand here today on their shoulders with gratitude, and we will never forget. To further honor the fallen, I have asked Councilmember Tony Khambata to read a very nice quote that I think fits the occasion. Councilmember Khambata. [40:27] **Councilmember Tony Khambata:** Thank you, Councilmember Olsen. Can everyone hear me okay? This is a quote from President Harry Truman: "Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices." Today is a day to honor every patriot who shed his or her blood for the freedom of our country. Let's bow our heads with respect and remembrance of all those men and women who never came back. Their silence lives on. We remember the fallen this Memorial Day. Fallen but not forgotten. [41:17] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you, Councilmember Khambata. And I think the key phrase there is "Fallen but not forgotten." We will never forget. So I'd like to bring our Cottage Grove Mayor, Myron Bailey, to the podium for some closing remarks. But before I do, I just want to take care of a little housekeeping here. As you saw earlier, we are blessed to have the Washington County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard with us today. Upon the conclusion of Mayor Bailey's remarks, the Honor Guard will then retrieve the colors, and we will have a very special rendition of "Amazing Grace" for you played by Russell Fox on the bagpipes. There will not be a dry eye in the house. Please stay in your seats until those events conclude, at which point you are free to spend some time speaking with Herb if you'd like to hear more stories or look at his pictures—he's definitely got a lot of information underneath the podium here. So I'm sure he would be willing to share. And I want to thank all of you for being here today on this Memorial Day 2024 to honor those who gave all. Mayor Bailey with closing remarks. [42:25] **Mayor Myron Bailey:** Well, excuse me. First of all, I just want to thank all of you for coming out and taking time out of your holiday weekend to remember the purpose that we're here and the purpose of this holiday weekend. And I also want to thank our Councilmember Olsen for putting this program together along with all the different parties that helped create this event that we've been doing for many years here in Cottage Grove. And of course, I do want to recognize—it was interesting for me sitting up here listening to the stories of Herb. And as you heard, Herb is the chair of our Historic Preservation Commission, so he has his ties and his abilities to find this information. But I have also spoken with Herb about at some point in time—and I know it takes a while to get here—but I'd love to see that Vietnam Memorial Wall that he is part of brought here to Cottage Grove for us to look at, remember, and to celebrate those lives. I want to take also a moment to speak about the memorial that is created out here on the City Hall property. I don't know that everybody remembers or would remember what the purpose is—or not so much the purpose, but when we were building this new City Hall Public Safety building, one of the things that I had asked our staff to do was to create a memorial, create something as part of this campus here that makes the City Hall Public Safety building our home. And the architect and the person that kind of helped us build this particular building also worked with some outside entities and created what you see out there, which is fairly simple—but I think simple is okay. I think simple kind of gives way to some of the names of the individuals that were just shared with us, some of which here were from Cottage Grove. And the other reason I wanted it personally—and I know a couple of my councilmember friends here were on the council at that particular time—is the placement. The placement being upfront in front of our City Hall building. And the reason is for me is, you know, we on the City Council, we get to do the work of the people. And I think it's no better fitting tribute than for when we walk into a city council meeting or citizens come forth to speak during issues or concerns that are at the city council table, is the fact that we have to walk by that. We have to walk by and remember we may not be a city, we may not be a Mayor or Council Representatives or County Commissioners if it weren't for the sacrifices of those that came before us to create the ability for us to live in a country that's free. And so I also wanted to say one last thing, and that is just to remember—in these crazy and I'll say crazy and turbulent political times—let's please remember who we are as a nation. We are all Americans. We are here because of the sacrifices of the many that died before us to make us free. So again, thank you for spending your Memorial Day morning with us here at Cottage Grove City Hall. And I think we are very happy now that we're inside. And thank you for those that came for remembering what the real purpose is of this holiday. So with that, I'll turn it back to Councilmember Olsen. [46:17] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** As promised, Russell. [46:19] **Russell Fox:** [Plays "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes] [48:15] **[Applause]** [48:26] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Again, thank you to our Washington County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard and to our own Sergeant McCormack and Sergeant Torning for presenting and retrieving the colors. As our program ends today, I also want to give thanks to Herb Reckinger, our guest speaker, to Ray Kane, who I thought did a wonderful job when he was able to articulate the purpose behind Memorial Day, to all of our elected officials, and of course to all of you. This day is an important day. This day is one that we should always honor every year. And that's why our Mississippi River Valley Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team spends as much time as we do trying to ensure that this event does justice to those who never came home, for those who fell in defense of this country. Thank you all for being here. Thank you all for remembering with us. Thank you all for honoring the fallen with us, and thank you all for never forgetting. Whether it's today, tomorrow, or a year from now, freedom is not free and there are many who paid the ultimate cost so that we could be standing here today. With that, I would like to just ask our dignitaries if you could please find your way out into the hallway and then for the rest of you, feel free to follow. We did end up with a little bit of a rainy day, so I think we were fortunate to be inside. And if you'd like to talk to any of our Beyond the Yellow Ribbon network members, we'll all be wearing these shirts. We would love to have you get involved if you're so moved. Thank you again for attending and good day. [50:11] **[Applause]** [50:18] **Councilmember Justin Olsen:** Thank you. Thanks for being here. [50:24] **[Music]**