This Veterans Day will be the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice that ended that terrible war. Our ‘Official’ Veterans Day Program will be held again at the Inver Grove Heights Veterans Memorial Community Center beginning with a free breakfast being served from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. prior to the start of the program at 10 a.m. The keynote speaker will be Nancy O’Brien Wagner, author of ‘Alice in France: The World War I Letters of Alice M. O’Brien.’ The author has captured her aunt’s experiences during the war.  Also on display will be the Minnesota Military Museum’s 30 foot ‘WWI America.’  This mural was recently completed by local Veteran David Geister who was inspired by the larger century-old painting at the National WWI Museum in Kansas City. There will also be artifacts from WWI as well as the POW/MIA hot air balloon on display courtesy of Freedom Flight, Inc. (weather permitting)

Sunday, November 11 is also special - in a different way - for my wife and me.  Several years ago we toured the battlefields of World War I in Belgium.  As we drove by this one field in particular it reminded us of the small farm fields throughout Minnesota.  Rich farmland with green grass growing abundantly.  Our guide pointed out that this was also a battlefield that survived the trench warfare of that war. It was the tidbits of information that he provided that sticks with me. For example, farmers still find artillery shells coming up from the ground - much like the rocks I used to pick as a young lad on my uncle’s farm.  Also, he pointed out that a young man was killed when trying to remove the copper head of a 100 year old artillery round.   Unfortunately he hammered too hard and the round exploded killing him.

Much like the artillery round in Belgium, the memories our Veterans carry with them are still there.  They may be ‘buried’ deep but they do surface.  As I have often said – if you asked a Veteran to ‘tell their story’ make sure you hush-up and listen.