NSS Weekly: A New Building Honors Minnesota’s Military Legacy

Transcript

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INTRO: You are listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a weekly newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota, produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations.

BRITT AAMODT: Our nation's veterans remind us of the honor, sacrifices, and the moments that make up the history of this country. As we approach Veterans Day, we are dedicating the program to salute those who have worn the uniform and served the country

VICTOR PALOMINO: This week, we visit a new space for the veteran's museum in Central Minnesota and reflect on the contributions of the many cultures and communities that contribute to the nation's military. I'm Victor Palomino.

BRITT AAMODT: And I'm Britt Aamodt.

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BRITT AAMODT: But first, North Star Stories reporter Xan Holston with the news that made the headlines around the state.

STOP THE HERMANTOWN DATA CENTER RALLY: The consequences of this hyperscale data center project and the decisions being made by this city council will have effects far beyond the border of Hermantown.

XAN HOLSTON: That's a speaker at a rally led by Stop the Hermantown data center before the city council voted to move forward with the Google hyperscale data center. Hundreds gathered outside city hall opposing the data center. Our news gathering partner, the Duluth Monitor, was at the protest and the meeting. After four hours of public comment, the council unanimously approved six measures advancing the development near Duluth. Google dropped its request for up to $80 million in property tax breaks before the vote.

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Minnesota's Truth Council, convened by Governor Walz, says federal immigration operations violated constitutional rights and left damage far beyond the people detained. In a preliminary report, the council describes school disruptions, lost wages, and long-lasting fear and trauma. More than 700 Minnesotans shared stories of how they were affected, including a Rochester high school student whose father was deported.

ROCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: Trauma doesn't always leave visible scars. Sometimes it shows up in sleepless nights, in children who become anxious, in parents who constantly worry, and in families who no longer feel peace in their own homes.

XAN HOLSTON: The report says immigration officers detained more than 70 children and caused nearly a quarter billion dollars in lost wages in the Twin Cities alone. The council's final findings and recommendations are due December 1st. The purpose of the council is to create a public record of the impact of Operation Metro Surge.

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State utility regulators have approved one of the state's largest solar projects after a judge recommended denying it. The Lemon Hill Project, located northeast of Rochester, will cover nearly one thousand acres in Olmsted County. The judge said the development hadn't justified building on prime farmland and warned about risks to groundwater and neighbors. But the Public Utility Commission says the judge overstepped their role in denying the project and cited similar projects statewide that have been approved.

PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION: All of them have gone through under this principle, and we've all adopted it equitably, fairly, and the same way every single time.

XAN HOLSTON: Construction is expected to start next year, with power coming in 2028.

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The utility fight at Prairie's Edge Casino near Granite Falls in western Minnesota isn't over. Minnesota Valley Cooperative wants to overturn an order protecting the casino from a power shut off. The co-op had threatened to cut electricity if the Upper Sioux Community turned on its solar array, but the state's utility commission ruled the co-op needs to continue service. The tribe is asking the commission to again reject the request.

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The nearby western city of Moorhead wants to keep a tax break for new home buyers. The Clay County Board voted unanimously to extend a rebate program through 2028. Buyers pay taxes first, then get eligible property taxes back for two years. County leaders say the program supports long-term growth while competing with other communities' incentives.

CLAY COUNTY LEADER: All of the jurisdictions have some type of program similar to this. Ours is the most robust.

XAN HOLSTON: The county council and school board must still approve the rebates.

And finally, your fishing line may be carrying more than just your catch. A volunteer discovered, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources confirmed, spiny water fleas in Daniels Lake, a Boundary Waters lake only reachable by canoe or portage. The tiny invasive crustaceans eat young food fish need to survive. Spinies have been found in a number of northern lakes. How they got to Daniels is unclear, but Cook County's aquatic invasive species supervisor tells AMPERS member station WTIP—

COOK COUNTY'S AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES SUPERVISOR: It seems like spinies are transported through fishing lines that aren't being cleaned properly.

XAN HOLSTON: So before you cast off, make sure you're not casting spinies in. For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

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BRITT AAMODT: For the latest midterm election results, find North Star Stories Daily on our website, or check your favorite station's schedule for airtimes.

VICTOR PALOMINO: For over a hundred years, the United States has recognized its military members on Veterans Day. For half that time, a small museum in Central Minnesota has collected the state's contribution to that legacy. Recently, the museum moved to a new, larger building that will allow it to share more of that history. North Star Stories reporter and host Britt Aamodt visited the new building and has this story.

BRITT AAMODT: The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the First World War ended. The cessation of fighting after four years and the deaths of upwards of 15 million people, among them 3,600 Minnesotans, gave us the date for what we now recognize as Veterans Day, November 11th. The Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum in Little Falls was created to commemorate service members from all corners of the state, past, present, and future.

RANDAL DIETRICH: Well, the museum's located kind of in the heart of the state, right in that middle, and so we've been good neighbors with Central Minnesota for 50 years.

BRITT AAMODT: Randal Dietrich has been the museum's executive director for the past nine years.

RANDAL DIETRICH: So for all that time, five decades, we've had a facility within the walls of Camp Ripley, just north of Little Falls. And for that period of time, veterans have voted with their feet, meaning they've walked through our front door and contacted us and offered artifacts from their military service, stories, photographs, letters, diaries, boots, uniforms, and we've been curating those stories for all that time, and had displayed them in a modest space, comparatively speaking, within the wall of Camp Ripley.

BRITT AAMODT: This past September, the museum reopened outside Camp Ripley down the road in a new, considerably larger 40,000 square foot building set on 30 acres.

RANDAL DIETRICH: There's a dedicated collections space with a high-density shelving system built in, and Vessie Memorial Hall. We have a classroom. We have a temporary exhibit area where we can showcase exhibits for a six week or six-month period. Again, 30 acres. We have a parade ground, and then plenty of room to roam. Tanks and aircraft, and even the conning tower and rudder of a Los Angeles-class submarine, the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul. As you drive by, you will see the outline of that 360-foot-long submarine, as if it's emerging from the prairie of central Minnesota. So, a lot to see outside, and then certainly go through the galleries, and then by nature of being here, walk away knowing a little bit more or a lot more about our military history.

BRITT AAMODT: The added space gives the museum the ability to tell more of Minnesota's military history and place it in the broader national and global context. The timeline starts with the land's indigenous and frontier beginnings, and continues in a circular route through time, looking at major conflicts and the Minnesotans in uniform swept up by these events, ending with the country's 21st century War on Terror. An early story features the outsized contribution to the Civil War. Minnesota had only been declared a state three years before.

RANDAL DIETRICH: When the Civil War breaks out, Minnesota steps up and is the first to offer up troops to support and defend the Union. We're home to the last surviving Civil War veteran, Albert Woolson from Duluth.

BRITT AAMODT: It also tells the story of Patrick Henry Taylor, a Belle Plaine school teacher who buried his brother Isaac at Gettysburg. They were members of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which filled critical gaps in the Union line during the three-day battle, despite being hopelessly outnumbered.

RANDAL DIETRICH: Arguably, saving the day, saving the campaign, the war, and Lincoln's presidency.

BRITT AAMODT: Over the years, the museum has collected tens of thousands of items, many of which now find their place in the exhibits. U.S. Army doughboy leggings from World War One. The gun from the USS Ward, manned by a crew from St. Paul that sank a Japanese midget submarine in the hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor, making that the first U.S. shot of World War II. There's sand from the Battle of Iwo Jima, and a Korean War MASH unit helicopter.

MUSEUM EXHIBIT AUDIO: And I wanted to go. My family were warriors for you know 210 years, and I wanted to know what war was, and it was not pretty.

BRITT AAMODT: Still images, audio, and video give the visitor a chance to see the faces of Minnesota's warriors and hear their stories in their voices. A small theater with benches that rumble and shake recreates 9/11 through the lives of Minnesotans in the World Trade Center, on a hijacked airplane and at home watching TV.

RANDAL DIETRICH: As we wanted to again make personal human connections to our museum, to both the men and women who fought and served.

BRITT AAMODT: That's most especially felt in the dozen or so mannequins sculpted in the likenesses of real Minnesotans. Virginia Lane Fraser, who served in an all-black postal battalion in World War II. Kay Bauer, a nurse in Vietnam. Colonel Jacob Helgestad.

ROBERT KLINKNER: When President Biden decided to close down Afghanistan, he and his battalion were the first ones on the ground in the Kandahar airport to secure that airport.

BRITT AAMODT: Robert Klinkner knew Helgestad.

ROBERT KLINKNER: He was a young captain when I first met him. I was a young first sergeant. Fast forward to him being the battalion commander of the first battalion 194th Armor out of Brainerd in the Kandahar Airport. Then the 82nd Airborne finally came in, and the Marines came in, because his formation was too small to secure the entire airport. He came home. They finished that deployment, came home, and then was diagnosed with cancer shortly thereafter. And then he succumbed to his cancer almost two years ago now. But so his likeness will be standing there as you come through. It's a mannequin with his face, with his uniform, with his gear. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty emotional.

BRITT AAMODT: Klinkner, a retired Minnesota Army National Guard command sergeant major, was himself filmed for the Oath of Enlistment Theater, greeting visitors as they enter the museum.

MUSEUM EXHIBIT AUDIO: I, David Handler, I, Don Halverson, do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. The oath is…

ROBERT KLINKNER: As they walk in, if they're a civilian and they have no idea about this thing called the Minnesota Military, they can sit down and watch kind of an opening movie on why we did what we did, why we served, why is it important.

MUSEUM EXHIBIT AUDIO: That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

BRITT AAMODT: A mission embodied by the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum and honored every November 11th on Veterans Day. This is Britt Aamodt for North Star Stories.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: Next, we explore how the diverse backgrounds and cultures of veterans and active-duty service members have helped shape our nation's armed forces and history.

BRITT AAMODT: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's Community Radio Stations, with support from the State of Minnesota. We'll be back after the break.

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[NSS Promo: "North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's Community Radio Stations. Check out our other programs at AMPERS dot ORG: Minnesota Native News brings you weekly coverage of the state's Native American communities. MN90 - Minnesota History in 90 Seconds - transports you to historical moments in our state through short, engaging stories. Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is a weekly podcast featuring conversations between Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo, and Native community members. Hear more at AMPERS dot ORG."]

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BRITT AAMODT: You are listening to North Star Stories. I'm Britt Aamodt.

VICTOR PALOMINO: And I'm Victor Palomino. According to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, 25 percent of able-bodied adult Native Americans enlist in the armed forces. Those who do not only serve the country; they also represent their sovereign nations

BRITT AAMODT: Galyn Minkel is a United States veteran from the Lower Sioux Indian Community. He served from 1981 to 2006. In his last year in the service, he deployed to the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. He is currently a Tribal Veteran Services Officer who assists veterans living in Southwest Minnesota. Well, it is great to have you on Northstar Stories, Galen. Thank you.

GALYN MINKEL: Yeah, you're welcome.

BRITT AAMODT: You enlisted in 1981, correct?

GALYN MINKEL: That's correct.

BRITT AAMODT: And so, what made the young Galyn Minkle want to join the military?

GALYN MINKEL: Well, I kind of wanted to get out of a small town of Olivia, Minnesota, that's located about 120 miles, almost due west of Minneapolis-St. Paul. I didn't want to go on to college at that point in time, and I thought, why not join the military? A lot of it stemmed from my father, my uncles, my grandparents. There was a lot of duty to service, and they all served. So I really felt I was obligated to do the same in joining the Air Force.

BRITT AAMODT: What does a Tribal Veteran Services Officer do?

GALYN MINKEL: Our primary function is to assist the veterans he or she in navigating the benefits that they've earned, and that could be applying for healthcare in the VA, the VA medical centers, to educational benefits. As an example, PTSD was one of the biggest ones that I tried to do my best to get veterans to come and apply, get their diagnosis, and receive the professional help as well as the compensational benefit they've earned.

BRITT AAMODT: So, from your point of view, why do we need Veteran Services Officers?

GALYN MINKEL: The thing about a lot of your veterans, especially your older veterans, we're talking back, you know, the Korean War, World War II, Vietnam, and then just recently Afghanistan and Iraq War. A lot of your veterans are coming home and they're not applying for the benefits. A lot of them want to just say, "Hey, let's leave the benefits for the other guys coming home." And what we do as Veteran Service Officers, both for the tribal side as well as well as the county, is to help them look into the benefits. So we are out in the field, and it's such an important role we all play, both on the county level as well as the tribal level, by getting those veterans to come in and sit down and talk, and then we process the paperwork for them.

BRITT AAMODT: What are some of the bigger benefits, or the ones that you think are more important for our listeners to know about?

GALYN MINKEL: I think the biggest benefit is for those veterans that are coming home is to, you know, it's about getting back settled into the communities and going back into the civilian workforce and such forth. A lot of veterans that are coming home that are suffering from PTSD, they're in denial. A lot of them will self-medicate, and the nice thing about in our position, we can guide them and help them get the help they need. And to me, that's the most biggest benefit is to get them into the VA healthcare and get their mental health addressed and assist with all of that.

BRITT AAMODT: So you're a member of the Lower Sioux community, and one of the statistics that we always hear is that Native Americans serve in the United States Armed Forces at five times the national average. How does your community, the Lower Sioux, recognize the service of those members?

GALYN MINKEL: It's one of the biggest things, especially in the Dakota culture. The elders come first, and then it's the warriors, the veterans that serve the community. In looking back in the early 1800s and such forth, the warriors that what we, before the government called us veterans, we protected the tribes, we protected the elders, and we did the hunting and such forth. So, the veterans from our community, especially, are highly honored and highly looked upon. And you know, we do serve at such a high rate, and it's who we are. You know, when you find an individual that's part of a reservation, you know, and if they don't serve in the military, they're serving their community in a different way. So it's just a culture thing for all of us. I I have to say.

BRITT AAMODT: And you also, I believe, brought a new or helped bring a new memorial to the Lower Sioux. Can you talk about that?

GALYN MINKEL: About 20 years ago, I came home from Iraq and I had retired officially. And there was a stone out at the Lower Sioux Cemetery, and on that stone, it was recognizing four of our young men in World War II that left here and went over to Normandy and Italy and such forth, and fought in World War II. And they all lost their lives. They didn't have an opportunity, of course, to come back to this community. And what we did is we designed, and it took us two years to do it. We designed a memorial at our historical center. The unique thing about it is we took all of those four young men that lost their lives, and we gave them a bench. Each of them have a huge granite bench, and on that bench indicates their name and where they were killed in action. And there's a purple heart on that. So when people do come into our community, that's the first thing they're going to see is when they walk into our circle at the memorial. But it also recognizes all the past, present, and future veterans. Every two years, we'll be adding names to those on those big, huge granite pallets.

BRITT AAMODT: And that opened this year.

GALYN MINKEL: We actually got the approval last year, and it took them a little over six months to put it in place. We haven't had a dedication date yet. We're waiting till earlier or later in the spring of next year. But it's all set. The flags are up. The lights are there. It's beautiful.

BRITT AAMODT: Veterans, you know, you're a veteran. You work with veterans. They come from all walks of life, but you all share this common military service. So, for someone who's never been in the military, what does that bond of service mean to all of you?

GALYN MINKEL: To me personally, it's about the honor. It's about protecting the homeland, and that, in itself, to me is, you know, we're not just serving our country; we're serving our community, and that's so important to our veterans, and they all feel the same way.

BRITT AAMODT: That's a great way to put it, Galyn. Is there anything else you want to add?

GALYN MINKEL: I'm honored to be able to speak about the Lower Sioux Indian Community, our veterans, and speaking lightly for all the other communities. But any community you go into, they all have memorials, and they're all different and unique in their own different ways. But you know, one of the biggest things that I would like to express is, you know, when you travel and if you've never been to a powwow, come to a powwow, make the time for it, because everyone's welcome. And you get to see how we honor our elders, we honor our veterans, and it's a unique thing to see and come be a part of. So that's what I'd like to share in closing.

BRITT AAMODT: Great way to close it. Thank you so much, Galyn.

GALYN MINKEL: You're so welcome. Thank you.

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BRITT AAMODT: Last year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Hmong immigration to the United States, which began following the end of the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Many of those families participated in conjunction with the US military and some of their descendants served in the armed forces.

VICTOR PALOMINO: To learn more about the Hmong-Laotian veterans, we're joined now by retired U.S. Army Colonel Yee Hang, who served for 27 years and is the son of Major WangTru Hang, a Hmong Special Guerrilla Unit, or SGU, veteran. His father served in the U.S.-backed forces during the Secret War in Laos, a conflict fought alongside the Vietnam War. Thank you for joining us and thank you for your service.

YEE HANG: Oh, thank you, Victor. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to tell my story, but also not just my story, but the story of the Hmong and Lao SGU veterans. So, I appreciate that.

VICTOR PALOMINO: For listeners that are unfamiliar with the Secret War in Laos and the role that the SG [Special Guerrilla] unit played supporting the United States, how do you explain that?

YEE HANG: I'm not an expert in that conflict but obviously being part of that generation of the Hmong people who fought in the in the conflict and who fled Laos to south of the United States, I can speak from firsthand experience. The conflict started in the early '60s and it went to 1975 when Laos fell to communism. So the United States thought that you know instead of sending troops into Laos, it would recruit the Lao and Hmong Indigenous people to help fight communism. You know, my father was involved initially as a radio telegraph operator, and then he became an intelligence officer. So for the latter part of the war, he was an intelligence officer working directly with Major General Vang Pao.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Did he share any stories with you about that time?

YEE HANG: You know, not when we were growing up. Like most veterans of wars, it's hard for them to, you know, go back to that time. But as he gets, is getting older, you know, I've been kind of talking to him about his experience, and you know, for me, it's good to understand where he came from, and also to make sure I tell his story so that my kids and their kids remember what he did, the sacrifices that he made for this country.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Did your father's service and your family's journey here to the United States influence your decision to join the army?

YEE HANG: I don't think so directly. You know, my journey in the military started obviously at the military academy at West Point. I grew up in a small town in Michigan. I had 96 seniors in my graduation class. So I just saw that as a quite humbling experience to walk in the same footsteps as other great leaders. You know, like Eisenhower, Patton. You know, really, it's more for me the decision to stay in was really to kind of like a repayment of the opportunities that the United States provided me and my family.

VICTOR PALOMINO: The Army kind of like reflects the many different cultures that make the fabric of this nation, and represent like all the different communities. And like you said, they're all kind of like paying back to this experiment that is the United States. You see that when you were going through your career?

YEE HANG: Yeah, I mean, like I said, I grew up in a small farming community, really, and most of the people that I knew were of German, you know, descendants. Pretty much white Anglo-Saxon, right? And my experiences in the Army just taught me that the United States is just so much more than that. It is a melting pot of different cultures, you know, different ethnic people, you know, cultures, languages, you know, everything. So it was it was an eye opener, and I think because of that, it probably made me more empathetic as a person too. I was forced to maybe understand where people's journeys came, where they came from, you know how their journey shaped them into who they are. So you know, and I always tell people that when I was growing up as a young officer, most of my leaders didn't care that I was Asian. All they cared was about what I could do my job.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Going back to your father's generation and all the veterans who serve in the SGU, it took a time to recognize that. So, what it means now that they have some benefits that are recognized, and what does that mean for them and their families?

YEE HANG: I was part of the group that testified in front of the legislators to help pass the bill. I just play a small part in that, but for me, I think if you ask most of the Lao and Hmong veterans, it's really not about the benefits; it's more about the recognition. It's been 50 years, and all this time they've never been recognized as people who sacrificed, you know, for the United States. And for them to have that recognition as an SGU veteran, really for them that's all that mattered, because they gave so much, right? I mean, I people ask me, they thank me for my 20 some years of service, but you know, I look at my service and the sacrifices that my elders made. I mean, it just doesn't compare. They left everything. They left with only what they could carry, came to a brand-new country to start over, and most of them, you know, became contributing members of society, you know, and all they asked in return was just to be recognized for their sacrifice. So, I think Minnesota is a great state for doing that.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Just one last question: How do you commemorate Veterans Day?

YEE HANG: You know, every veteran deserves our thanks for their service and sacrifice. We all come from different backgrounds. One of my favorite shows series is the Band of Brothers, right? And if you watch that show, you realize that these kids who are from different backgrounds, different ethnic, you know, upbringing, banded together. They survived, and because they love each other, they grew to, they grew to love each other. They put aside their differences, and they fought for a country from, in a distant land, right? Of all things too, right? So it's what's striking to me is that every single one of them during the interviews, they asked them if they thought they were heroes, and they said no, they weren't. They weren't heroes. They were just doing what was what was right. What was the right thing to do? So, if you know, for me, I said veterans they hold a special place in my heart because most of my friends are veterans who are just amazing Americans and amazing people. So, so I try to honor the you know the every veteran, especially the older ones too. Like my elders, you know, because we're there. There's less and less of them every day, and it's important that we tell their stories so that we don't forget what they went through, and the honor to honor them.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Well, thank you so much for your service and for sharing all this information and help our listeners to understand and learn more about American history and the contributions of everybody to it.

YEE HANG: I appreciate it again. I appreciate the opportunity to tell the story of my elders and the Hmong and the Lao SGU veterans.

BRITT AAMODT: To learn more about Minnesota's veterans, including those who served in the Secret War, visit the AMPERS website and look for Veterans' Voices

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VICTOR PALOMINO: This is it for today's program. If you missed any part of today's newscast, you can find this and past episodes at AMPERS.org or listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also get North Star Stories Daily on our website or check your favorite station's schedule.

BRITT AAMODT: Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with more stories and voices from the North Star State.

OUTRO: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations with support from the state of Minnesota. Online at AMPERS.org.