Free article

The Graphic has made this article available to everyone. To read everything we publish, subscribe today for as little as $52 per year.

Remembrance on land and over the airwaves

Memorial Day observances took place around the area Monday, May 25, with differing impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Lake City’s large Memorial Day event featuring music and speeches that has for the last several years taken place in the Lincoln High School auditorium was postponed until Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and substituted with a radio program on Lake Hits 95.

Keynote speaker B. Wayne Quist talked about the importance of history, especially in times of crisis.

His speech traced the holiday from its origins at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868 in honor of the 700,000 military casualties of the Civil War through two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Middle East conflicts and up to the present.

“Our history shows how we as a nation persevered in the past, and it guides us today, with faith in the future,” he said.

Later, he added: “In examining our past and in paying tribute to all those who have sacrificed so much for all of us, we gain hope for the future, with knowledge that we will persevere in this time of crisis – and as we honor our dead today, we remember Lincoln’s words – ‘with malice toward none, with charity for all.’”

The Millville American Legion and Zumbro Falls VFW continued their tradition of observances at local cemeteries, but they did ask members of the public in attendance to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

User login

The Lake City Graphic

graphic@lakecitygraphic.com
Ph: 651-345-3316 (M-Tu 8am-4pm, W-Th-F 8am-3pm)
Fax: 651-345-4200
P.O. Box 469
111 South 8th Street
Lake City, MN 55041

ISSN 2994-1059 (print)  ISSN 2994-1067 (online)