Minnesotans find tranquility on Memorial Day in cemeteries, not on the lake
MINNEAPOLIS -- The weather this holiday weekend certainly added to the many Memorial Day traditions for Minnesotans, including for families visiting cemeteries across the state.
According to a congressional report, about 19,000 servicemen and women from Minnesota are considered casualties of America's foreign wars. That sobering number, however, does not include the hundreds of thousands of veterans who might have defeated enemies like Hitler, but they couldn't defeat time.
WCCO News on Monday met several families visiting Hillside Cemetery in northeast Minneapolis who came to visit the graves of those veterans.
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Dave Corbett came in from St. Michael to pay tribute to his father, Richard, who served during the Korean War.
"If you don't spend some time to have memories then they can disappear almost too fast," Corbett told WCCO News. "I want to just hold on to my dad for what he taught me and how his impact shaped how I did things as I grew up, and I hope some of that was passed on to my children."
Sandra Mahn, whose great-grandparents and parents were buried at Hillside, said her Memorial Day tradition of visiting her family's graves dates back more than 40 years.
"It's very heartwarming and very special and memorable," she said. "The freedom to worship, the freedom to live their lives as they choose. I hope we don't lose that in this country."