by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Patriotic songs filled the air, half-mast flags flapped in the breeze, speakers waxed eloquent and attentive listeners applauded approval at the May 29 Memorial Day ceremony in Sartell’s Veterans’ Park.
The riveting keynote speaker at the ceremony was veteran Sgt. First-Class Mike Mills (see related story).
Highlights
Although the morning was overcast and chilly, the ceremony went off without a hitch, even throughout a couple minutes when there was a mere sprinkle of rain. Just a few seconds after the droplets of rain, the sun peeked out briefly from a patch of blue.
Besides the speakers’ comments, highlights of the morning were the rousing tunes played by the Sartell High School Marching Band, the welcome by Sartell American Legion Commander John Denney, the invocation by Pastor Jim Goodew of Grace Baptist Fellowship Church in Sartell, the placing of the colors by Sartell American Legion Post 277, a volley shot off by the rifle squad of the Waite Park American Legion, the placing of the flags, the laying of the wreath, a reading of Flanders Field by Sartell Girl Scout Margaret Pipper, the playing of “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes by piper Joe Linneman, the playing of taps and, finally, the retiring of the colors.
Sartell Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts participated throughout the entire ceremony, including helping Legion members serve free rolls and refreshments to visitors after the ceremony.
Speakers
• Sartell Police officer and U.S. Marine veteran Adam VandeVrede welcomed the audience.
VandeVrede serves as a school-liaison police officer for the Sartell-St. Stephen School District and is also an instructor for the Drug Resistance and Awareness Education program, also known as DARE.
One day, in the DARE suggestion box, VandeVrede found a slip of paper on which was written a question as to why he became a police officer.
Many people spend a long time finding their calling, he told the audience.
“My calling, I realized, is a dedication to service – to the Marines, to the public, as a police officer . . . I do it proudly because I envy and love this community.”
Memorial Day, VandeVrede said, is a way to honor public servants, such as veterans.
“It’s for the remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for us.”
• Rep. Tom Emmer of the U.S. Sixth Congressional District said Memorial Day is, to some people, “just a holiday,” but it is, more importantly, a time to thank and honor the “brave men and women and their ultimate sacrifice” for so many American freedoms and achievements.
Since the colonial Revolutionary War, Emmer said, American soldiers have been fighting against various forms of tyranny and evil, most recently against the forces of terrorism and extremism.
“Thank God,” he said, “these heroes have walked among us. Their sacrifices were not in vain. As I like to say, we are the Land of the Free because of the Brave.”
• District 13B State Rep. Tim O’Driscoll, a former Sartell mayor and the primary founder of the annual ceremony in Veterans’ Park, announced how the names of two Minnesota veterans have been recently honored by having their names placed on roadways.
One of the veterans is Kenneth Olson of Paynesville. While serving in Vietnam in 1968, he quickly grabbed an enemy grenade off the ground and placed it under his body so it’s detonation would not kill the soldier who was next to him. Two years later, then-President Richard Nixon presented Olson’s family with the Congressional Medal of Honor. A segment of Hwy. 23 in Paynesville was just renamed in Olson’s honor.
Another veteran honored is Benjamin Kopp of Coates. While fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, during a battle lasting several hours, Coates was hit in the leg and later died of the wound. Thanks to his eagerness to save lives, Coates had wanted his organs to be used for others. As a result, a man suffering a rare heart disease was given Kopp’s heart and is now alive, thanks to the kindness of Kopp, who was only 21 when he died. A bridge over Hwy. 2 in Coates is now named in honor of Benjamin Kopp.
• Rollie Weis, a member of the Sartell American Legion, is one of the few remaining veteran survivors of World War II.
“I’m the oldest one here today, I can tell you that,” Weis said to the crowd in his deadpan humor, which the audience enjoyed with chuckles.
So many veterans, Weis said, have had to put their lives on hold as they do duty for their country. He said when people meet veterans they should shake their hands, tell them thank you and then keep reverence and loyalty to the United States in both word and deed.
Iraq war veteran Mike Mills of Freeport gives moving testimony about his long journey through pain and anguish after being severely wounded in 2005. Mill was one of the main speakers at the Memorial Day ceremony in Sartell.
Free rolls and beverages are served to those who attended the Memorial Day ceremony at Veterans Park in Sartell.
Visitors have a look at the new Sartell Paper Mill monument at Veterans’ Park on Memorial Day, May 29. In the left rear can be seen the “old” Sartell bridge.
Visitors looking through one of the dryer gears of the Sartell Paper Mill Memorial monument will see the hydroelectric dam and the old hydro plant.
