“Thanks and praise,
For our days,
'Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.”
~ From “Taps”
Several area officials rendered their praise and appreciation Monday afternoon in honor of the community’s soldiers who gave their all. A large gathering of citizens circled around the speakers to help dedicate the new Koochiching County Veterans Memorial.
Warm breezes and a shimmering sun provided an optimum atmosphere on this Labor Day as the monument’s seven flags soared in tribute to the fallen local soldiers they memorialize.
The memorial also honors all the men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. And several local veterans, some in dress uniform, attended with their families.
“You left the community as children, and came back aged, changed and scarred,” International Falls City Councilor Tim “Chopper” McBride said in his remarks. McBride went on to recognize that the area’s young soldiers went away naive and proud — to witness horrors that no one should have to experience.
“We, who were not with you, will never understand,” he said.
International Falls Mayor Shawn Mason said it was fitting that the dedication fell on Labor Day, a day that could not be celebrated without the sacrifices made by those who keep the nation free.
VFW Commander of Peter Graham Post 2948 Terry Randolph served as master of ceremony and reminded local veterans to get registered into the Veterans Administration system. County Commissioner Kevin Adee also spoke and Wayne Sampson, VFW District 8 chaplain, offered a prayer.
Margarete Kostiuk sang “The Star Spangled Banner,” and led the entire audience in singing “God Bless America.”
“Taps” was played with its traditional reprise echoing in the distance, and the jolting blasts from the Color Guard’s rifle salute brought solemnity to the occasion.
The public commemorative area is designed in a ring and is bordered with simple stone benches from which to gaze and ponder. Mason noted that the city is working on vacating the street that runs between the county Courthouse and the Veterans Memorial, enlarging and encapsulating “this beautiful reflective space.”
As old friends embraced before departing, one veteran was seen poignantly placing a bullet atop one of the site’s granite markers.
