Minnesota VIII

Another from the Faces of Remembrance series, this one from very near the Minnesota Vietnam Memorial on Minnesota's Capitol grounds which honors the more than 1100 lost in 'Nam.

The statue stands 12-feet high. It consists of 1,500 steel pieces hammered and welded together. The statue depicts a returning Minnesota soldier dressed in full combat gear. He represents all the living Veterans who came home from war to help other Veterans preserve the memory of their fallen comrades. His outstretched arms ask the viewer for recognition and acceptance. The things that stands out to me is his face, he looks like a child, a face not often seen on a someone coming home.

It is called a Monument to the Living, but more commonly, by many,  simply as The Grunt.

I like his stance, too, it seems, to me, to be the classic WTF pose so many of us are familiar with in-country and more recently here at home.

You don't see too many memorials to those who made it back, but every now and then, it is good to see.

Next time, on the 31st, we will return to Mississippi, so join me there at 9:00am, as usual.

To see other memorials from Minnesota, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.