Dear Friends,
Very, very early this morning we passed the final bill of our legislative session. I will include more details on the bills we passed in an upcoming update; I am really pleased with what we were able to accomplish this year.
Recently, the House had the pleasure of hosting Bernie Holritz, a WWII Navy Veteran. He was a Radar Technitian during the war, and he also worked as a Christian missionary with the Navigators Ministry. Bernie was excorted by Jerry Kyser, Vietnam War Veteran and founder of Honor Flight Twin Cities.
It is such an honor to host veterans when they visit the Capitol. Memorial Day is particularly poigniant for me and others in the veterans community as we remember those who served alongside us, but never made it home.
On Memorial Day, we remember the fallen who sacrificed their lives in service to our nation. We mourn together our sons and daughters who paid the ultimate price for our freedom, from generations past to present.
Borne out of the Civil War, Memorial Day was a coming together of both the North and South in order to remember the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who lost their lives on both sides. It was a setting aside of deep-seated animosity to honor the fallen.
Our nation has gone through times of war and peace, and the importance of Memorial Day has grown as generations of our young people have been taken from us on battle fields far from home.
As Minnesotans, our heritage is inextricably linked to service and sacrifice to our nation. Our establishment as a state was followed quickly by a call to fight for the union we had only just joined; we were the first state to volunteer our men to the Union’s cause. Our own State Capitol itself is a memorial to those who fought and died in the Civil War.
Memorial Day hits very close to home for me and my family, as many it does for many in our community. I left my wife and sons behind to serve overseas while I was in the Army, and both of my boys are in service now. Every military family must live with their worst fears everyday, until their warrior returns home. For some, those worst fears become a reality. To all those who have lost someone they love in military service—my thoughts and prayers are with you.
We gather on Memorial Day to observe the loss of our loved ones, our sons and daughters, our glorious dead. We tell their stories so they can live again in our memories, so future generations will remember the price they paid for our freedom and way of life. May we always, as a nation, come together to hold the memories of our fallen warriors sacred.
I will be speaking at the Memorial Day services in Marine on St. Croix and at the Minneapolis Veterans Home this Monday; I hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Bob