Honoring fallen Service members at State Veterans Cemetery

Many people see Memorial Day weekend as the beginning of summer. Although at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Duluth, the friends, families and fellow veterans were honoring fallen Service members.

Members of the community took time to reflect on the men and women who served our nation and made the ultimate sacrifice. Cory Johnson, the cemetery administrator, says this was the largest gathering held at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Duluth.

“It’s recognizing the sacrifice of our nation’s heroes in every war and conflict that this nation has been involved in. Specifically, those that haven’t come home,” Cory Johnson said. “We of course do our ceremony on the Sunday prior to Memorial Day. The logic behind that is we as a newer cemetery in the region we don’t want families to have to pick and choose which programs they go to especially if there’s a program that they’ve been attending for many years or decades.”

The Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Duluth has interred veterans since 2018. Duluth Benjamin Johnson, the deputy commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Veteran Affairs, says Memorial Day weekend is a time to help friends and families process the grief of fallen service members.

“Among our four locations, we have been honored to inter more than 10,000 veterans and spouses over the past 30 years,” Benjamin Jonhson said. “Personally, I recognize the importance of the military somber traditions during difficult and tragic times when a service member loses their life.”

Jean Captain, with Duluth’s Honor Guard, says the men and women who defended our country won’t be forgotten. As long as we keep their memory alive in our hearts as we take a moment to remember their sacrifice.

“Memorial Day is at the end of May for a very good reason. It was originally called Decoration Day because it started when the women decorated the graves of the Civil War dead,” Jean Captain said. “There’s nothing glamorous or glorious about war. War is always tragic. War is terrible. The costs are high. So why does anyone join the military? They served because that is what we do. We do it because we are defending America. We will always come together to defend our common core values. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for everyone. We are the land of the free because of the brave.”

For more information about other Minnesota State Veterans Cemeteries you can read more here. Also for other events honoring fallen Service members this Memorial Day weekend you can read more here.