Ceremony at Fort Snelling returns to honor the fallen

It’s a sacred ritual of honor and remembrance: the placing of thousands of American flags at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.  

“It’s coming out and really remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and served this country,” says Kate Arendt, from Rosemount.

“The best word I can find to describe it is honor,” adds Joanne Malmstedt, who runs the nonprofit Flags for Fort Snelling.

Hundreds of volunteers are placing flags on 200,000 gravestones this Memorial Day weekend.

Organizers say the event had to be scaled down in 2020, with selected flag placements only.

It was brought back in 2021 — but with strict guidelines, and low volunteer numbers.

 But this year, a complete return — with 500 volunteers working Saturday and some 1,200 on Sunday.

Malmstedt says the flag plantings will continue Sunday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“It’s super humbling,” she exclaims. “To be able to remember and honor those people out here that in some cases, haven’t had people come out here in decades, to be able to see them or longer.”

The nonprofit began the effort in 2015.

Members had learned that it had been 30 years since flags were planted at the cemetery.

“It’s a real tribute, and it’s an honor to be here,” declared Jim Pithan, who was among 72 veteran motorcycle club members who arrived to help plant flags, and honor the fallen. “To recognize them, all my brothers and sisters who are already here.”

This year, for the first time, there was something different.

The motorcyclists provided a roaring, patriotic parade through the cemetery front gates.

Pithan — a 26-year U.S Army veteran who served in Iraq — says public support of the military has improved dramatically since the Vietnam era.  

“Everywhere we go, people thank us for our service,” he notes. “They just didn’t get the recognition they deserve for what they did for the country. We try to bring that back to them and honor them the best way we can.”

Arendt — also a U.S Army veteran — and her 13-year-old son Martin, a member of Scouts BSA, were among the volunteers.  

The Rosemount resident — who works at Minneapolis VA Medical Center — told us about the quiet moments she felt as she planted each flag.

“This is very powerful and meaningful to me,” Arendt explains. “I look at the tombstone and I thank them for their service, and you would do about a foot length from the tomb and you just place the flag to your right heel into the ground, but I say a little moment of silence for them.”

The scouts say with each planting, they are honoring a military member who made the ultimate sacrifice.

In many cases, the names and dates on the stones they see, come from a time long before they were born.

“I just want to give back and respect people that have fought in the wars,” says Dominick Gadient, from Eden Prairie. “Makes me think what they were going through. How they served, and why there were doing it. If they wanted to give back, or they were doing it to protect someone.”

Flags large and small can be seen across the cemetery.

Each stone will now be marked with the red, white, and blue.

A tribute for those who served and sacrificed.  

“The public recognizes there’s a small group of individuals that defend this country’s freedom at all time, so it’s an honor to be a part of that small group,” Pithan says. “It’s about remembrance, and that is why we are here today.”

More about Flags for Fort Snelling can be found here.