Paul Thissen: Innovation in Action

Speech at Dedication of All Veterans Memorial

I am very honored to be with you this afternoon to participate in the unveiling of the All Veterans Memorial.

Thank you to all of you who have played such a significant role in making the idea of this Memorial a reality.

There is no more fitting place for this Memorial to rise than in Richfield – a community built by veterans, a community marked for decades by the spirit of civic engagement lived out by those men and women.

But it is also important to remember that this is a Memorial to Veterans from across the State of Minnesota. Men and women from all corners of the state will be memorialized on the tablets here.

It is for that reason that I was proud to be part of an effort in the state legislature – with leadership from Sen Dan Larson and Rep Linda Slocum and Governor Pawlenty – to get the State of Minnesota to invest $100,000 in state resources to match the incredibly generous private support of countless individuals and groups like the IBEW.

There is another reason that it is right to invest our resources in a Memorial like this.

Most certainly we should and must honor past and current generations for their service to this country.  But in a larger sense, a Memorial like this – a beautiful piece of public art – is more about our investment in future generations, in the future of our state and our country.

I recall a conversation I had with Travis Grosche [the designer of the Memorial] about the project.  He said he was inspired to this great work by the stories and the character of Chuck Lindberg who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.  That is precisely the point.

My children are in the audience.  This Memorial is for them and for their children.  Once these festivities have died down, families will walk by this Memorial, spend a minute in contemplation and over time and repetition, the message will sink in.

We belong to something larger than ourselves, to a community and a country and that belonging is not just about identity and privilege but about responsibility and service.

And in that spirit, this Memorial should also serve to remind us all that we must work to make this country and community something worth serving; a community and country that continues to be worth believing in.

Thank you.