Memories of war, longing for peace

David Brewster, Star Tribune

Amanda Cady and son Mercy Cady-Vititoe were told to pick a name and remember it. They didn’t know the soldier but traced the name. Cady’s uncle served in Vietnam and her father in Korea.

With the reading of names and the ringing of a bell , friends and family of veterans honored those who died in the service of their country.

By JIM FOTI and ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: May 26, 2008 - 10:24 PM

Some who attend Memorial Day ceremonies bring poems, some bring flowers, some bring lawn chairs decked out with stars and stripes.

And nearly everyone brings a memory of war.

With a "Leave No Veteran Behind" button on his hat, Jim Fischer was among those who came to Monday afternoon's observance at the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial in St. Paul, where the names of three childhood friends are etched into the wall.

Back when Fischer was in Vietnam with the Army, two of the friends were killed a day apart. Their names are right next to each other, with the third just off to the right, "so I visit them," Fischer said. "Those are the ones that mean the most to me."

Linda Werra also has clear memories of the Vietnam era. Forty years ago next week, her 19-year-old brother, George King, died in combat. The flag that draped his coffin was flown during Monday's ceremony.

"In the Marines, he found a sense of belonging and a brotherhood," Werra told the audience, echoing thoughts shared by other speakers. She choked up when reflecting on his abbreviated life and said she still feels very angry, but also very proud.

The crowd of about 300 included a Vietnamese honor guard, a veterans motorcycle club and dozens of children who came forward to place white carnations against the granite wall. The sound of muskets echoed across the Capitol grounds, and a violinist played hymns including "Amazing Grace."

Standing amid birch trees that quaked in the chilly breeze, Kellie Parades was wearing a sweat shirt with a message: "I love my soldier." She was with her husband, Shawn, who served in Somalia in the early 1990s and is leaving for Iraq next week with the Army National Guard. He expects to be gone for 12 to 18 months.

Kellie will stay home in White Bear Lake with their young son, Jordon, who was dressed in khaki-colored camouflage just like his dad. It'll be her first long stint without Shawn. Her plan: "Keep your head up and look ahead."

A reading of names

Earlier in the day at the same spot, the names of 70 Minnesotans in the armed services who died in Afghanistan or Iraq were read, and after each name, a small bell was rung.

About 100 people attended the event, which was organized by the Veterans for Peace.

"We gather not only to remember them," said Barry Riesch, a Vietnam veteran from St. Paul, "but also to give thought about those that are returning [and] the fact we are still at war, we still have soldiers that are returning, we still have soldiers that are dying as a result of our U.S. foreign policy.

"But we gather not so much as a political statement this morning as to take the time for what this day is for, which is remembering those that have lost their lives as a result of war, not only military but civilian life."

"We are surrounded by war memorials," said Dick Sarafolean, another Vietnam veteran. "The World War II Memorial is behind us, the Vietnam War Memorial is in front of us. Before we run out of space on the Capitol grounds, I hope we run out of wars."

jfoti@startribune.com • 612-673-4491 raugustoviz@startribune.com • 612-673-4451

Recent St. Paul stories

U students warned of robberies near campus - May 26, 2008

U students warned of robberies near campus - Police at the University of Minnesota issued a crime alert Monday after four nearly identical robberies occurred in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood near the campus late last week. More