Minnesota X

In a past post I told the story of asking for directions in South Dakota and ended up in Minnesota, I recount that story here if you would care to check it out.

Among the other features of the Jasper Cemetery are, of course, names and here are a few of them today.

I was unsure if these names were of the lost or among the millions that served due to the way they were listed at the site.. I went to The Wall of Faces ( https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ ) and determined that these, blessedly, are among those that served. One of them is the husband of the nice woman who took me to this site.

Next time, on the 16th of May, we will venture, again, to Mississippi to honor a few of the fallen, so, join me, as always, at 9:00 am.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos.

Minnesota VI

Jasper, Minnesota is not very far from Sioux Falls, SD. I stopped and asked a lady in South Dakota if she knew of any Vietnam Memorials in the area. She asked if I had seen the one in Jasper, Mn? She tried to give me directions and then said, "Get in your car and follow me." She drove me to the spot and then stayed to show me around. It was not all that far away, maybe 20 minutes by car, but she didn't have to do this at all. I am constantly being reminded of how nice people can be.

 The memorial sits on N. Main Street in Jasper within the Jasper Cemetery. It, as you can see, is not specifically to Vietnam as is, so often, the case in small towns. I don't think that detracts in any way from what a great site this is.

As you can see, a number of conflicts are remembered here. For those who may not know, the white crosses are often associated with WW I: Flanders fields and "The Green Fields of France"; where so very many died.

Vietnam, like the others here, is remembered only by graphic depictions, not lists of names.

Names are listed upon the stones that make up the plaza in the front of the site. Many who served are honored here. I could not locate any names of those who may have been lost. I don't know if this means that Jasper did not lose anyone or if they simply chose to honor all who served. One of the above stones is in honor of the husband of the kind lady who brought me to this site.

An interesting side note. The lady who brought me here told me that Jasper is in Pipestone County, which is named for the soft, carve-able stone found there that Native Americans carved into pipes for smoking tobacco.

Next time, on August 7, we will make another stop in Mississippi where I was lucky enough to meet some very nice and interesting folks. Join me at 9:00am to see the pics and hear the story.

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