Gone, but never forgotten

Gold Star Families Monument unveiled in Zimmerman

by Jim Boyle

Editor

A Gold Star Families Memorial Monument was unveiled in Zimmerman on Saturday, June 8, as Gold Star families in attendance wiped away tears in a ceremony that seemingly lightened their burden in the company of others.

Paul McCormick, the commander of the Zimmerman American Legion, welcomed them and others who showed up for the ceremony with these words: “Our hope is you will enjoy the monument today and for the years to come,” McCormick said. “With that said, on behalf of myself, the whole Legion family and the Gold Star Committee, welcome to our memorial park.”

It took the committee only five months to raise the funds needed for the monument in partnership with the Woody Williams Foundation, only the second of its sort in Minnesota and one of 136 such monuments across the country. Committee members included McCormack Bob Lundgren Dawn Olsen, Rod Mettling, Loren Sikkink and Stacey Burnham, who is the sponsoring Gold Star Family.

Burnham also spoke at the ceremony. Her beloved daughter Nicole joined the military in her senior year of high school in 2015. She died at Fort Carson, Colorado, on Jan. 26 2018, while on active duty in the United States Army.

Stacey said the monument behind her is a symbol of profound love, honor and respect.

“It reflects the profound grief that comes from receiving that dreaded knock at the door and the folded flag that signifies a life given in service,” she said. “Yet it also embodies the honor and bravery of those who have fallen and the undying love we hold for them. This place of permanence provides a connection to other families who share this unique and painful experience. Together, we find strength and solidarity, knowing that we are not alone in our grief.”

That was evident at the ceremony in everything from the posting of historical flags by the Zimmerman American Legion Honor Guard, Pledge of Allegiance led by the Gold Star Monument Committee and the national anthem sung by Tim Hadler.

Frank Grittner provided the invocation. He stated: “Heavenly Father, we ask your blessings on this gathering as we come together to honor the families of the heroes that have given the ultimate measure in defense of our beloved country.

“Let us never forget the sacrifices made not only by the fallen but by the ones they leave behind. May these families find comfort in knowing that we will never forget their loved ones and that we acknowledge their sacrifices for our country and all its citizens.

“Be with us as we dedicate this monument, make it a place of reflection and healing for all; this we pray in your name. Amen.”

Tony Price, the executive director of the Gold Star Ride Foundation, which is headquartered in the Twin Cities, pointed out that Stella Huso, the oldest Gold Star Mom in the country, is 105 years old.

The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners declared Jan. 16, 2023, to be “Stella Huso Day.” The proclamation called her “a relentless advocate for our nation’s veterans and their families.”

Price told the crowd on June 8 how he helped her celebrate her 105th birthday this past January at Big Lake High School in the community where she lived for many years before moving to Buffalo. He said there were banners hung throughout the school and auditorium announcing her 105th birthday, but when Price asked her if he could share her age with the audience before he went to the podium that day, she said, “No.”

Laughter erupted at the Zimmerman memorial park on Saturday.

“I gotta tell you, it’s really great to hear that laughter,” Price said. “It really, really is. And the reason that it’s really great to hear that laughter is because, in my travels and everything that I’ve experienced, one of the things that is paramount above all else is that there’s never been a soldier who put on a uniform because he wanted his family and his friends to be miserable. One of the biggest reasons for soldiers to put on a uniform and go defend our great land is so that our families and friends can have a better life than they had before. And that laughter, for me personally, is the No. 1 sign that it’s working.”

Price explained what the foundation he is part of does.

“We ride motorcycles all over the country, and we go and personally meet with Gold Star families, and we honor and support them,” he said.

Price has logged 135,000 miles in six years, met with 526 Gold Star families throughout the country and has visited all of the 48 lower states and Washington, D.C., at least four times each.

He pointed out, however, that not everybody knows what a Gold Star family is. He shared a story of a man who helped him with his motorcycle when it wouldn’t start on his way to see a Gold Star family in Lockport, New York, just as he was about to cross the state line between Pennsylvania and New York.

The two people got to talking about Gold Star Ride Foundation stickers Price had on his bike and eventually the conversation came around to explaining what a Gold Star Family is. Price told the man they are immediate family members of somebody killed in the military.

And the man he was with stopped pushing the motorcycle, and he stood upright, and he looked me dead in the face, and he said, “My daughter was killed in Korea three years ago,” Price relayed. “I said, ‘That makes you a Gold Star Dad.’”

Nobody had ever told him that.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m telling you right now, you’re Gold Star Dad.’”

The two pushed the bike in the shade, talked about what it was like to be a Gold Star Dad and shared a lot of tears and a handful of pictures. When the man realized time was getting away from him and he had to go, Price strapped on his helmet and hit the start button. His bike started right up and he drove two and a half hours to his destination without a hitch.

Price went on to say a soldier dies two deaths: one when their heart stops beating, and the other one when people stop saying their name.

“My job is to ride all over the country to remember everybody’s name and say everybody’s name,” he said “We couldn’t be free without the sacrifices of our fallen heroes.

“We wouldn’t be free without the sacrifices of the Gold Star families, and the Gold Star families didn’t sign up for it. The fallen hero signed up for it, but their families did not. But they’re the ones that are carrying the burden. And again, why did they do that? They did it so that our lives could be better.

“They did it so that we can laugh more, so that we can love more, so that we can live more. And if I can offer some advice that I’ve learned while traveling through these United States. The advice that I would like to offer is that in order to laugh more, to live more, to love more, we need to forgive more. If we were able to forgive more, this would allow us more empathy, so that we would have a better understanding of what the Gold Star families are going through every day. It will help us understand what each Gold Star family has suffered through.”

Burnham understands all too well. When they received Pvt. Nicole Burnham’s belongings back from the Army, Stacey said she had found a piece she had written, and she shared it at the ceremony.

It read: “There are few things a citizen can do on behalf of a nation. Serving in uniform is one of them.

“I joined the Army when I was in high school because I knew the military was something I could depend on in my future, and I felt I needed to serve my country.

“Since joining, I realized the military has given me experiences most of our nation does not get the opportunity to take. The Army gave me a chance to develop discipline and leadership skills while seeing the real world, the one with challenges that most people are afraid to understand.

“Even though my Army career as a small arms and artillery repairer has just begun, I will always remember the experiences it took to become a United States soldier and use them as a guide in any situation I find myself in in the future.”

Stacey Burnham said when she learned of the Woody Williams Foundation and saw a Gold Star Families Memorial monument, “I knew immediately that we needed one here in Minnesota, and I was determined to do everything in my power to bring one to a community near me.”

Through private and community donations, about $180,000 was for the project.

The monument’s granite panels are etched with four themes: “homeland,” “family,” “patriot” and “sacrifice.”

It was designed with the help of the Woody Williams Foundation, a Kentucky nonprofit.

Stacey Burnham said there are no words to fully express her gratitude to the members of the committee.

“It took just one mention of my wish to get this monument, and here it is,” she said. “The Zimmerman American Legion. The Legion Riders, Sons of the American Legion. This entire town, its businesses, and its people, are the most generous and patriotic people I know. They are proud to honor those who have served.

“This Gold Star family’s memorial monument is a gift from this community, and it belongs to us and our fallen loved ones. It is a demonstration that they care for us and appreciate our sacrifice, while also honoring the ultimate sacrifice of our loved ones. I truly hope my fellow Gold Star families find a bit of peace and comfort here.

“I want you to feel loved and to know your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. Zimmerman, Minnesota sees you. They love you. They welcome you with open arms. And most importantly, they will never forget the ultimate sacrifice we and our loved ones made.”

The last speaker was Dr. Mark Harris, the president and CEO of the Woody Williams Foundation that oversees the Gold Star Monument program across the United States.

The Tennessean said he was honored to be a representative here for the Woody Williams Foundation and shared how Williams was the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient for World War II.

“He earned his Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II,” Harris said. “He took out seven Japanese bunkers with flame throwers and with demolition charges, and he weighed about 120 pounds. He did an outstanding job and was recognized for it by President Truman. He spent the rest of his life, as many Medal of Honor recipients do, convincing others that it wasn’t for him.”

Harris said Williams believed that medal represented the Marines that protected him and died in that service while he was attacking those seven bunkers. He knew that it was for the fallen, because they didn’t make it home.

After Williams retired from the Marine Corps, he stayed in the Reserves. He rose through the rank from corporal to chief warrant officer five, and he started a speaking circuit and speaking to families all across the United States.

“He found that the families grieved so much,” Harris said. “And one day, he would speak mostly to mothers, Gold Star Mothers, because he felt that they had the largest loss. One day, a man came up after his speech and told him dads cry, too. Dads grieve too. And he knew from that point on that he needed to help the family members.”

His desire was to recognize those survivors who have been left behind, the people who still carry the burden.

“Being killed in combat is not the worst thing,” Harris said. “The worst thing is being forgotten.”

Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments fight against that. Williams died nearly two years ago. Grandsons took over the organization for a short time, and then Harris stepped in five months ago.

“One of the reasons I was hired is because of my experiences as a Marine,” he said. “I did casualty calls. I buried Marines. But I’ll tell you, when I started handing out flags to mothers, to family members, I could not stop crying. My CEO took me off the detail.

“It is hard. PTSD is not something that we believed in. It’s not something I believed in.”

That is, he said, until he drew a gun on his wife and said, “Halt, who goes there?” when she came into their bedroom in the middle of the night and she later asked him to seek help.

“PTSD is real,” he said. “Suicide, even after the service, is real to many service members. And that’s why I’m here, and that’s why I’m glad you’re here today. I am so proud, and I know Woody would be proud to look at this beautiful park here today. What you’ve done, this is one of the best I’ve seen.”

Harris encouraged people to use the park, especially at the end of September for Gold Star Family Day and again on Gold Star Mother’s Day, Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

“I hope you gather here because that’s what it’s for,” Harris said. “It’s a place for you to come, remember and to hopefully get some peace.”

Harris, of the Woody Williams Foundation, and Monument Committee Members Olsen and Mettling performed the unveiling. Laying of the Wreath was handled by Judy Johnson. Dan Westrum performed the sounding of taps.

Tim Hadler sang “God Bless America.”