This Memorial Day, the state of Minnesota will commemorate its soldiers who fought and died far from home 150 years ago, to keep the Union whole.

Gov. Mark Dayton joined state officials and uniformed Civil War reenactors to announce a slate of Memorial Day events to mark the war's sesquicentennial.

Among the events will be the rededication of the grave of Lt. David Oakes in Oakland Cemetery. Oakes died 150 years ago this Monday, killed during a skirmish near Corinth, Miss., leaving behind a young wife and three children.

More than 18,000 Minnesotans served in the Civil War. Beginning this holiday weekend, the state's Civil War Commemoration Task Force will begin placing special flags on their graves to commemorate their service.

Mound Cemetery in Brooklyn Center will be one of the first to place the new flags. Sixteen Civil War veterans graves will be marked with the new sesquicentennial flags and the cemetery will hold a Memorial Day service, complete with reenactors from the 1st Regiment of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry and a funeral jazz band, at 11 a.m. at the cemetery, which is located at 3515 69th Ave. North in Brooklyn Center.

For more information about events planned this holiday weekend, and throughout the four-year anniversary of the war, visit www.mncivilwar150.com.