A Day for Remembrance: Honoring Our Veterans

Here in the Valley, and across the country, it’s a day to remember those who have sacrificed for our country.

For local vets, it’s also about the importance of honoring people who have served, and died, in the name of freedom.
 
Bruce Fjelde spent nearly a quarter-century in the military, starting back in 1945.

First, the Navy, then the Air Force, then as a Happy Hooligan in the North Dakota National Guard.
 
“I really wanted to fly those swifties,” says Fjelde.
 
He was one of dozens of Vets who commemorated Veterans Day at Touchmark Retirement Home.

More than 50 veterans live at Touchmark, more than a quarter of the residents at the home.
 
All of the photos and medals displayed for Veterans Day are a powerful memento of the service of those in the Fargo community.

Veterans say the most important thing about Veterans Day is keeping the memories of that service alive.
 
“You get another generation started doing it, and in the process you extend the memory of it,” Fjelde.
 
For him, the memories can be wonderful.
 
“For me the first time I was 17-years-old and that was no sacrifice. That was an adventure,” Fjelde says.
 
Or tragic.
 
He says, “I totaled up the number of guys that I knew who had crashed and died and it was up around 40.”
 
But veterans say it’s important to remember it all.

Remembrance is what it takes to keep America the land of the free.

Veterans I talked to today say remembering the sacrifices of veterans from years past is the key to avoiding war at any cost.

On a personal note, I’d like to honor one veteran in particular.

My grandfather, Harold Ladwig, served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Now he’s almost 90 years old, and still going strong.

Thanks for your service, grandpa.