Veteran’s corner 

Jason Hicks | Commander United Patriotic bodies
Fargo Memorial Honor Guard
Greetings all, as I write this article it seems like spring is at our doorstep. That being said we did have a 40 plus degree drop and a blizzard within a 24 hr period. But my personal benchmark of spring is the amount of dead skunks you see on our roadways. I’m not sure of the science, but to me it’s a thing.
Since I last wrote there has been some news regarding the Fargo Memorial Honor Guard project at the Fargo National Cemetery. Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) invited several what he calls stakeholders to a U-shaped table discussion (it wasn’t round) and spoke of the great strides made towards our (The FMHG) project of building an actual structure on the property of the Fargo National cemetery. There was some confusion during the discussion that I wish to clarify,

1. The VA will allow a building to be built on the National Cemetery Property

2. The building will be a combination of the NDSU school of architecture and Icon engineering design and the ND Veterans cemetery in Mandan.

3. The VA WILL NOT pay for the construction of the building.

4. The VA WILL take custody of the building after completion and staff, maintain and improve building upon completion.

5. Senator Hoeven will work with VA undersecretary to streamline project as best as possible and cut red tape bureaucracy.

So moving forward like the Infantryman I am, we will work with the groups involved to make this dream a reality. Despite all the push back and behind the scenes cute little political games being played, we will prevail on providing a nice and comfortable reception for our fallen comrades and their families.
In closing I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the kerfuffle involving the bathroom facility at the cemetery. Do to engineering and construction errors, your 100k plus bathroom is out of order for the foreseeable future. There has been a porta potty placed to use in its place. A person bearing a striking resemblance to this author tried to speak against this bad design idea, was ignored and then chastised.