Eisenhower tree 'memorializes unforgettable sacrifices'

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The scent of gunpowder cut the morning air as cannon shots from Berg's Battery echoed across the Minnesota River Valley Monday at Memorial Day Observance 2001 in the New Ulm City Cemetery.

Fifth District Judge Bradley C. Walker of North Mankato said he felt like the batter who followed Ted Williams after hearing Cathedral senior Katherine Meyer recite the Gettysburg Address.

Walker, the son of a Marine who served in the Pacific during World War II, expressed pride in his father.

Walker's father, now retired, has spoken to Lake Crystal elementary and middle school students about his experiences in the Marines. He also drafted others to give presentations to history and civics classes.

"Teachers tell me the presentations give a sense of truth to students on what they are studying," Walker said. "I urge you to do same thing -- work with your school teachers and administrators and service groups to ensure the memory of those that we honor will never fade."

Walker, an Operation Desert Storm veteran, said history teaches Americans that the world will never run out of threats.

"Hitler and Ho Chi Minh are gone, but Saddam Hussein and other enemies of democracy are still with us," Walker said. "If we teach our youth correctly, they will willingly serve in the U.S. armed forces and the defense of freedom will continue."

Freedom is Americans' greatest blessing, Walker said. He asked people to put aside what otherwise might divide them and recall the honor of the men and women that fought to bestow honor to the United States. The sacrifices of veterans allowed the United States to grow and prosper.

"On this national holiday, we can go to the mall, go fishing or to the golf course because of their sacrifice," Walker said.

In another Memorial Day observance, New Ulm veterans joined in a nation-wide tribute that honored all those who served their country in World War II by planting a tree.

However, the tree held special significance because it grew from seeds picked from the branches of a green ash tree that shades a small, white clapboard house -- in Denison, Texas, ­ the birthplace of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The tree planting, known as Operation Silent Witness, was repeated by nearly 10,000 Veterans of Foreign Wars posts throughout the country Monday.

Operation Silent Witness evolved from the decision of the VFW Foundation to begin a mission to create a tribute to everyone that served the nation in World War II, at home and abroad. From factory workers, soldiers, sailors, Marines and families that went without daily comforts so all GIs would know who cared, according to New Ulm VFW Post Commander Wil Burdorf.

More than 300,000 Americans died in World War II.

The tree "memorializes the unforgettable sacrifices made by our armed forces during World War II when our liberty hung in the balance," New Ulm Mayor Arnold Koelpin said. ... "It brings the calmness like the quiet whispering of trees bring to a community and a nation where its citizens, like living trees, continue to nurture and protect the land for generations to come. We'll watch the Eisenhower tree grow and see it as a silent sentinel as a fitting memorial for a day we once called Decoration Day."

As part of the tree-planting ceremony, veterans Barb Meidl, Kay Wieben, and Ruth Berndt were honored.

Berndt, 92, the oldest living World War II veteran in New Ulm, served as a U.S. Army nurse in New Guinea, the Philippines, Japan and Germany over a 10-year period.

Wieben joined the Red Cross in New Ulm and served in the CIB (China, Indian and Burma) campaign in Northern India with the 69th General Hospital.

Meidl served as a storekeeper second class at Naval Air Station San Diego.