Fort Snelling hosts first in-person Memorial Day ceremony since pandemic start

More than a thousand people turned up in the rain on Monday morning to honor service members buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. 

It was the first official Memorial Day service at the site in two years after large in-person gatherings were restricted because of the pandemic. 

“Those of you who came today know we can’t forget,” said Gov. Tim Walz, who spoke at the outdoor service during the tail end of a rain storm. “It matters to come here and honor this day. It matters to put the flags on the graves, but what matters most [is] are we honoring their legacy by the way we live?” 

“The people who lie here literally stood in the face of tyranny and potentially the loss of our entire freedoms. And they stood it down,” said Walz.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar also spoke at the service, taking time to remember her own father who is buried at the cemetery. She said it was her first time at the ceremony since her father, who served in the U.S. army in the 1950s, passed away. 

“One of the things that my dad always talked about was ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And I can’t think of a better description of those that are buried in this cemetery,” Klobuchar said. 

The event included a wreath-laying ceremony and a 21-gun salute. 

The Fort Snelling cemetery dates back to 1870 and has more than 200,000 graves.

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