Brainerd Community Holds Annual Memorial Day Ceremonies and Parade

Memorial Day has been an annual observance in the U.S. dating back to 1868, just three years after the Civil War. Many across the country came together to honor its fallen heroes, and in Brainerd, hundreds gathered to take part in a tradition that started there in 1968.

“Heavenly Father, we pause this day to remember and to give thanks for the multitude of soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, coast guards, who’ve graciously and selflessly served this nation,” said Bethlehem Lutheran Rev. Dr. Mark Skinner in an address during the ceremony at the All Veterans Memorial. “We commend to you those who have died in service to our country through Christ Jesus, our savior and Lord, amen.”

Those in attendance remembered those that made the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to ensure the future of others.

“These honored dead had a vision,” stated U.S. Air Force veteran and chaplain Reverend Eusebia “Chappy” Rios, “that our history and the chasm across by many courageous generations seeking to lay the cloth of equality at the feet of our nation’s doorstep would not be erased, that it would serve as an example and a reminder that we can do better in this generation.”

And for many, memories resurfaced.

“My husband was a Vietnam veteran and he’s no longer with us, but I know he was here today,” said Brainerd VFW Post 1647 Auxiliary president Cheryl Hull. “My family, it started out with my dad and our sons and our grandsons. I just think about all the things that they related to me about their time in the service and what they encountered.”

But emotions like pride also reawakened.

“My husband didn’t talk about it a lot,” Hull said. “My grandson was in Iraq and he doesn’t talk about it much, either. I just have visions of them in the sand and the dirt and the guns and the shooting. And you wonder what they went through. Very proud of all of them—everybody.”

Memorial Day serves as an opportunity to thank those lost in the field of battle, just as it did in Brainerd today.

“Sometimes I think in our busy lives we forget,” added Hull. “I think this is a good reminder to all of us that we live in a free country because of these men and women that served for us.”

Following the Memorial Day ceremonies, the Brainerd Elks and American Legion hosted a free picnic lunch for veterans and their families at the American Legion parking lot.