I think I speak for the rest of the NARN when I say we’re honored to be allowed to participate in this coming Saturday’s dedication of Minnesota’s new World War II memorial.

Some events rise way, way above politics – as, indeed, World War II did for Americans sixty-five years ago.  It will be an honor beyond words to be there to see, and in our own way record, what will likely be the last, greatest gathering of Minnesota’s surviving World War II veterans.

Upwards of 20,000 people are expected to gather Saturday on the Capitol Mall in St. Paul to dedicate the new state memorial to World War II veterans. State Veterans Affairs Commissioner Clark Dyrud said it could be one of the largest gatherings ever of WWII veterans in Minnesota.

“We have waited 62 years for this,” said Michael Horan, an 82-year-old World War II veteran from St. Paul, who served on the memorial’s advisory board. “With the way that veterans are dying off, this could be our last chance to be honored.”…

It’s going to be big:

Dedication organizer Pat Turgeon said: “This is a really big deal. I’m getting calls every day from guys who say they’ll be here Saturday come hell or high water.”

A similar dedication event in South Dakota several years ago attracted about 25,000 people, said Turgeon, who works for the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. She is estimating that about 5,000 of the state’s 50,000 living WWII veterans will attend.

“I won’t be surprised if we get 50,000 [total attendees] if the weather is good,” Turgeon said.

The state of Minnesota is going all-out to make sure that every veteran who can possibly attend, does:

The state will reimburse mileage at 48.5 cents a mile for WWII vets or drivers carrying them. Submit a transportation reimbursement form to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs by June 30.

Forms will be available at the registration tent or online at www.startribune.com/a2865.

If you know a WWII vet who needs a ride, please help out.  We’d like to see everyone there that can possibly make it.

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 5:00 am and is filed under History And Its Making, NARN. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.