Ever wonder what was around the Minnesota State Capitol, besides the ongoing construction? There are actually several monuments dedicated to service men and women from Minnesota who have fought in our country’s wars. The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and the Minnesota Humanities Center encourage anyone who wants to learn, pay their respects, or just walk around the capitol memorials to print off the /mdva/assets/2016-04-13-war-memorial-educator-guide_tcm1066-246373.pdfReflections on War and Service PDF and tour the Capitol Mall. 

“The guide to the memorials aims to engage educators and students at all levels to consider how Americans memorialize war and military service in public, and how that relates to the way war gets remembered through the personal stories and life experiences of Veterans.  We hope to create a usable past through interaction between the memorials and tangible experiences.”  Trista Matascastillo of the Humanities Center said.  She also shared that this guide is not just for students or educators, but as a companion guide for the general public as well. 

The guide focuses on five of the memorials, but there are over 20 memorials all around the Mall. Spend time reading each one and asking yourself the questions in the packet, it is quite illuminating. The whole focus is about remembering those who went to war and their stories; to do this each individual has to find what memorials mean the most to them and engage with the stories being told. 

For class purposes the tour lasts about 45-60 minutes and is meant for 5th graders all the way to High School Seniors. There are questions for different grades and testimonies from Veterans and teachers. Coming alone? No problem, find the memorials you want to visit in the key (page 6) and read the parts of the guide that apply. 

The most important part is that you leave with a sense of understanding why these memorials exist and learning from the stories that they tell. Remember the fallen, pick a quote off of the rocks or ponder some of the artwork, whichever you chose, please come and bear witness to the many Minnesotans who have made the ultimate sacrifice.