Woodbury Memorial Day Ceremony To Honor Fallen Soldiers Monday

WOODBURY, MN — Woodbury’s VFW Post is set to host its annual Memorial Day ceremony Monday to honor all city residents who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Woodbury VFW Post 9024’s ceremony is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to noon Monday at the Woodbury Lions Veterans Memorial near City Hall. The ceremony will be moved to the City Park Amphitheater, 8595 Central Park Place, if it rains, officials said.

City officials are encouraging residents to arrive early so they can see displays at the memorial, while residents can also stay after the ceremony for an ice cream social catered by Culver’s.

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Retired Woodbury Fire Chief and U.S. Marine John Wallgren is due to serve as the ceremony’s keynote speaker.

Wallgren, who served in the department for more than three decades, was chief of the Woodbury Fire Department from 2018 until his retirement last year.

Wallgren joined the U.S. Marines after graduating from high school in 1981, according to a news release. He served as a combat engineer in Okinawa and several southeast Asian locations, officials said.

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Wallgren joined the 133rd Airlift Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard after his discharge from the Marines.

The tradition of honoring veterans who died in military service in late May dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the lives of Union soldiers who were killed during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier.

Logan called it "Decoration Day," which it was known as for several years. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

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Until World War I, Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, was only meant to honor those who died while fighting for the union in the Civil War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the holiday took on a new role to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. The midday time was chosen "because it is the time when many Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday," according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

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