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A year after Memorial Day services were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, local American Legion and VFW posts hosted programs Monday.
In Hardwick the Arthur Moeller Post 478 remembered the 1.3 million U.S. men and women who died in military service as well as paying tribute to the nine former Legion members who passed away since the last Memorial Day service in 2019.
Legion member Don Bryan led Hardwick’s “Roll Call for Honored Dead” that included Herman Bos, Harold Etrheim, Henry Petersen, Keith Lemke, Larry Tweet, Dick VanHofwegen, Mel Hendriks, Harold Graphenteen and Don Etrheim.
“Let us remember our deceased members in our prayers — today and every day,” Bryan said.
Guest speaker Matt Niessink, a recruiter with the Army National Guard, recently transferred to the South Dakota unit in Sioux Falls after 10 years with the Luverne unit.
Niessink echoed the solemn reason for setting aside one day a year since 1865 as tribute to fallen U.S. soldiers.
“Freedom is never free. We must never sorrow for the loss of these great men and women, but rejoice that they have lived and made a difference,” he said.
“We will always remember those who had to be brave for us — we owe them a debt we can never repay — only that we remember the sacrifice they were willing to make.”