‘Red Bulls’ raising money for memorial at Fort Snelling National Cemetery

Many Minnesotans are familiar with the "Red Bulls" 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota National Guard because it’s one of the nation’s most frequently-deployed and highly-decorated military units. However, it’s one of the few military units in Minnesota that doesn’t have its own memorial at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

"We don’t know why, but we’re going to change that," 34th Infantry Division veteran Eric Kerska told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS in an interview at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. "The 34th Division needs a memorial here."

There are dozens of memorials honoring military units at the cemetery but not one for the 34th Infantry Division, even though it was founded in 1917 near the end of World War I and served in World War II and nearly every major conflict since then. Their service includes multiple deployments to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When some 34th Infantry veterans recently realized they don’t have a memorial, they contacted Fort Snelling National Cemetery and were told it’s up to veterans from each military unit to raise the money and create their own memorial.

"It’s a way to honor members of a particular unit for what they did," Kerska said. "So, it’s fascinating history. It’s a place for veterans and their families to come and remember."

Kerska served three tours of duty in Iraq, two of them with the Red Bulls. For his full-time job, he serves as Rochester’s fire chief but he’s working part-time with other veterans of the 34th to raise money for a memorial. They’ve started a GoFundMe page and are contacting veterans’ groups to raise at least $10,000 for the memorial.

They’re also working to create a memorial following strict Fort Snelling National Cemetery guidelines.

"It will, in a very small, way tell our story, and there’s a bunch of us who think our story needs to be told," Kerska said.