Hundreds Pay Respects to Fallen Soldiers at Annual Bemidji Memorial Day Event

For more than 60 years, the Bemidji chapter of the American Legion has held an annual Memorial Day service at Greenwood Cemetery, and this year was no different. With warm temperatures and sunny skies, hundreds gathered to pay respects to American soldiers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

“From all the wars, whether it’s from the Civil War to Grenada to the Iraq War, WWII—there’s so many conflicts in there where our men and women have given the most to sacrifice the most to preserve the freedoms that we enjoy today,” said Steve Jewett, commander of Bemidji’s American Legion Post 14.

Those sacrifices are recognized every year on Memorial Day, a day created to commemorate the loss of fallen soldiers throughout history—and to give them thanks.

“We have these freedoms; they aren’t just free,” Jewett stated. “People have worked and paid their lives to guarantee these freedoms that we have this day. If it wasn’t for the sacrifice that these men and women have given over the years, the hundreds of years, we wouldn’t have some of these privileges, I believe, that we get nowadays.”

The Bemidji area celebrates Memorial Day every year in Greenwood Cemetery, where hundreds of veterans and community members gather among over 1,000 flags placed on the gravestones of veterans. In the days leading up to the holiday, volunteers all around the country go to these grave sites to pay their respects.

“Maybe it’s only 15 veterans there, but you drive by some of these and there’s an American flag there,” added Jewett. “And that’s because a fellow veteran saw the need and thought it was important to show appreciation to where our veterans are located.”