By Bruce Karnick

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Memorial Day, a day to honor the fallen soldiers from the history of US Conflicts and Wars. A day to reflect on the lives of 646,596 troops that have died in battle since the Revolutionary War ended. That is over twice the population of the City of St. Paul proper, 315,925, and the City of Hastings 28.43 times over. Hastings, like many communities, is blessed to have a wide-ranging history of serv-

The Hastings Fire Department does an outstanding job drawing attention to the importance of the day with one simple, day long gesture. Flying a giant US Flag from the boom of their ladder truck over Vermillion Street. Photo by Bruce Karnick ice members and awesome community focused service member groups like the VFW and American Legion. These two groups organize a wonderful presentation on Memorial Day. Each year, the VFW handles placing flags at the graves of each fallen soldier in the surrounding communities and the Legion focuses on Hastings. Both can do so because of the generous members and the support of the residents of Hastings. at 10:00 a.m., a 45minute presentation was given with a variety of guest speakers, music and presentations.

At the same time, just a few blocks away, a group of historians dressed as soldiers from various wars from the past to show how the uniforms have changed and discuss with folks how the lives of the soldiers were different based on the time they were from. Some even had musical instruments to play period appropriate marches.

At 11:07, a B-25J Bomber flew over the Hastings Veterans Home to start its route around the Twin Cities.

At the crack of dawn, a group of brave souls set out to Red Wing to participate in the sixth annual “March for Them”. A 28 plus mile walk from Red Wing to Hastings. This group of 13 made the trek in roughly 12 hours with the support of many community volunteers at checkpoints along The Great River Road, Wisconsin 35. Upon their arrival into Hastings, they were greeted by nearly 100 supporters cheering them on. The brainchild behind the event, Tom Wright, led a short program once the team arrived in Hastings. The March for them started as a way to remind people what Memorial Day is truly about and has evolved into a way to honor fallen soldiers known to at least one of the marchers.

At 2:00 p.m. the Hastings Hawks Amateur Baseball team held its annual Memorial Day game against the Rochester Royals. The Royals in turn, host the Hawks in Rochester on the Fourth of July. The VFW Color Guard assisted with the start of that as well Monday.

The 2021 version of Memorial Day was a beautiful day for reflection and honoring 646,596 fallen troops. Whether you spent it grilling out, on the lake, walking 28 miles, listening to speakers, watching a B-25 fly-over or watching a baseball game, the reminders of the freedoms we have thanks to those 646,596 soldiers and their brothers and sisters was a message sent loud and clear. Thank you for the ultimate sacrifice.

13 people Marched 28 miles from Red Wing to Hastings as a reminder to the rest of us what Memorial Day is about. Here they are on the last half mile as they just finished crossing the Hastings Bridge. Photo by Bruce Karnick