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The Luverne community was front and center at the recent 2019 Minnesota National Guard Court of Honor ceremony at Camp Ripley.
Warren G. Herreid II was inducted into the Court of Honor Oct. 6 along with six other service members. Their names are inscribed in the Court of Honor, an outdoor monument plaza located within the grounds of the Minnesota Military Museum.
The court recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves during their military service and with their communities. Candidates are nominated to the committee each year for possible inclusion in the court.
“The Court of Honor is an inspirational achievement for everyone in the Minnesota National Guard — young and old, enlisted or commissioned,” said Col. Brian Melton, Camp Ripley Garrison Commander, in a press release.
“The exceptional example of service each inductee embodies has motivated us all for several decades and will well into the future.”
Herreid follows in the footsteps of his father, Warren G. Herreid, who was inducted to the Court of Honor in 2002.
It’s a rare honor that a father and son each received such high accolades, according to Ryan Welle, archivist and librarian with the Minnesota Military Museum.
“I have looked through the information we have here at the museum and in our archives, and I have not been able to locate any other father-son pairs in the past,” he said. “Truly, a remarkable distinction for the Herreid family.”
The senior Herreid died in 2017 in Luverne. He served 20 years in the Minnesota National Guard, first joining in Luverne and then later rejoining in Bloomington.
The junior Herreid developed a fondness for Luverne, having lived here as a young child before his family settled in Bloomington. He later became a regular visitor when his parents retired to Luverne in 1992.
Herreid II enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard in February 1967 and as a full-time soldier rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the 34th Infantry Division. He retired in 1993. He and his wife, Jeannine Rivet, make their home in Minnetrista.
In 2017 Herreid II was named a brevet colonel in a ceremony in Luverne.
Herreid II, through the K.A.H.R. Foundation established with his wife, has sponsored many philanthropic projects to recognize service members, veterans, historians and families throughout the U.S., but Luverne received monetary support for several projects recognized by the Court of Honor.
“He is very selfless, humble, generous and seeks ways to have a positive impact where needs exist,” wrote Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen in Herreid’s Court of Honor nomination. “A truly remarkable leader and soldier.”
Herreid’s many contributions to Luverne include:
•annual candlelight vigil the Sunday prior to Memorial Day.
•commissioners room constructed in the Rock County Courthouse.
•remodel of the former Rock County jail and sheriff’s residence to a military museum that bears the Herreid name.
•designed and constructed the Veterans Memorial on the Rock County Courthouse lawn including a restored Civil War cannon.
•new readiness center in Luverne, built with state, federal and private funds.
“A most significant philanthropic gesture, never before accomplished in Minnesota, was his major financial commitment ($5 million) to assist in funding a new Luverne Army National Guard training facility,” Jensen wrote. “This is truly a very magnificent gift to the city, county and the Minnesota National Guard.”
The new facility will be finished in 2022.