Community Corner

Richfield's Honoring All Veterans Memorial to Be Dedicated Monday

While an annual event has been held at the memorial site the last few years, the memorial will be officially dedicated Monday.

Richfield's Honoring All Veterans Memorial will be officially dedicated at 2 p.m. Memorial Day, May 27 at Veterans Memorial Park.

The featured speaker is Major General Richard C. Nash, Adjutant General, Minnesota National Guard.

The memorial is dedicated to veterans of all six branches of the U.S. armed forces. Multiple tablets feature engraved names of veterans for all to see.

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From the 2012 event, Read: Jake Rappe: We Don't Serve to Get Something in Return

The following is information provided by the Honoring All Veterans Memorial Board:

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

General Information about the Monument - The Honoring All Veterans Memorial pays tribute to the men and women of the US Military. The memorial is mostly funded by the sale of engraved names on granite tablets that face a bronze statue of one of the first flag-raisers at Iwo Jima, longtime Richfield resident Charles Lindberg.   A bonding grant was received from the State of Minnesota in the amount of $100,000 to partially fund the project in 2008.  The total cost of the monument to date is about $694,000.

Educational Purpose - The Honoring All Veterans Memorial recognizes the First Flag-Raising on Iwo Jima. The centerpiece is a bronze bust of Cpl. Charles “Chuck” W. Lindberg, longtime Richfield resident and last-living flag-raiser from both raisings. Cpl. Lindberg, along with four other Marines, raised the first flag on February 23, 1945. The other Marines were Lt. Harold Schrier, Platoon Sgt. Ernest Thomas, Sgt. Hank Hansen and Pvt. Louis Charlo. Although we spotlight these individuals, we acknowledge members of all six branches of service: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Merchant Marines and Navy.

A Place to Remember and Reflect - The memorial design will enable visitors, alone or as a group, to view the surrounding granite tablets, engraved with veterans names. Visitors will want to revisit the Memorial over the years, watching it evolve and grow. This Memorial is a living memorial that will continue to grow as new names are added. Just as our military branches continue to live, so will this Veterans Memorial. We ask you to take the time to reflect on the veterans of the past, present and future.

Purchase an Engraving - The names of all Veterans are welcome on the memorial, active or retired, wartime or peacetime, full service or reserves, deceased or living and regardless of residency. The only qualification for an engraving is an honorable discharge.  Purchase an engraving for the memorial through the HAVM website - http://www.cityofrichfield.org/index.aspx?page=280 or call 612-861-9395.

Monument Features and Symbolism

Centerpiece - 1.5 life-size bronze bust of Chuck Lindberg, sculpted by Jeff Barber.  The sculpture is mounted to a 12-ton taconite rock from the Iron Range donated by Eveleth Taconite Company.
Columns - Six concrete columns constructed by Bulach Custom Rock of Inver Grove Heights, surround the centerpiece each representing a separate military branch.  The columns are 15-feet high with the top portion curving inward to honor the flag and to show how all branches are united in their efforts to serve and protect our Country. 
Glass Elements - The two glass elements with sunlight pouring through them honor our Veterans with a full day’s remembrance.  One element has the image of a Purple Heart honoring those wounded and/or killed in combat and the other has a Gold Star honoring the mothers and families of our service men and women who gave their lives in combat.  The glass elements were designed and made in Cold Spring, Minnesota by Terhaar Custom Glass.
Engraved Granite Tablets - Currently there are 5 fully engraved tablets installed each with 120 engraved names, and five additional tablets for future engravings.  The monument site has the capacity to include a total of 60 granite tables and a total of 7,200 names.  As the memorial grows the tablets will create the shape of a tear drop to represent our tears of sorrow and tears of joy for serving.  All the granite tablets and features come from Minnesota and were purchased and installed by Murphy Granite in Cold Spring, Minnesota.  

Honored Civil War Soldier - Retired Air Force intelligence officer Charles Purser spent his free time exploring the Confederate cemeteries, researching the Civil War veterans buried there, discovering their life stories, and sometimes providing names and new headstones for graves marked only with a number.  Occasionally, he would find an error in the spelling of a name or a birth date.
In 2007, a fellow Civil War researcher from New York called to say that a Union soldier named John O. Dolson had no burial on record, indicating that he may have been buried in a Confederate graveyard.  Purser knew of one headstone for a John O. Dobson of the 2nd North Carolina Infantry of the Confederate Army, and the lack of any census information for him.  Dobson would have been one of 138 deceased Confederate soldiers whose bodies were returned from Gettysburg and buried.  Union Army records, however, told of a Private John O. Dolson of the 2nd Sharpshooters, a Union Army soldier from the farm country of Richfield, Minnesota. Dolson had passed away from injuries sustained in battle on September 3, 1863, at 19 years old.
Purser concluded that Dolson’s name had been recorded incorrectly and he became the only Union soldier buried in a Confederate cemetery.  Purser ordered a new headstone for him, a curve-topped stone consistent with those of the Union soldiers.  The point-topped Confederate headstone that had marked his grave was returned to Dolson’s hometown of Richfield, Minnesota, where it now resides as part of the Honoring All Veterans Memorial.
Design Concept Origin - Richfield resident and artist Travis Gorshe joined the City's Arts Commission in 2005 and initiated discussions about constructing a veterans memorial.  He worked out a concept and approached the City's Recreation Services Director, Jim Topitzhofer with the attached sketches and a request to construct a monument in Veterans Memorial Park.  Topitzhofer and Gorshe formed a team and have led the project since then. 
Honoring All Veterans Memorial Board - A non-profit board was created in 2006 to help plan the construction of the monument and to conduct fundraising activities.  Their vision and concept is to honor the memory of US Military Veterans from all military branches and provide a place for people to reflect and thank those who have served, are serving or will serve.  The Board feels that whether we honor a family member, neighbor, friend or stranger, it’s important that we remember the members of the United States Military who protect our freedom and our lives.

The Board is supported by a number of building trade organizations including the IBEW 292, where Chuck Lindberg was a member.  This support led to many donations of labor and materials to the monument from union companies.   The Board also plans and conducts Memorial Day Ceremonies at the site on an annual basis.    

Parking for the event is available at the American Legion Richfield Post 435, located at 6501 Portland Ave. S., and at the Richfield Ice Arena, 636 E. 66th St. The American Legion is serving burger and chicken baskets before and after the dedication. All are welcome to attend.


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