Veteran’s Corner 

Jason Hicks | Commander United Patriotic bodies
Fargo Memorial Honor Guard

Last week’s announcement by Senator John Hoeven was a HUGE victory for our Veterans. We are getting ever so close to building a Veterans Memorial Center at the Fargo National Cemetery. Now that the Veterans administration has approved our design (with very minor adjustments) we are moving forward. Our legal team will work directly with the VA for contracts and legal documents.
The Fargo Memorial Honor Guard has and will continue to lead this effort. Very soon we will announce who our general contractor will be. We are hoping to break ground this fall (This will be a very public event). Never in the history of the National Cemetery Administration has such an undertaking been proposed. A Private organization (The Fargo Memorial Honor Guard) will build and donate an entire building for the families of departed Veterans and Veteran volunteers themselves. Indoor bathrooms that function all year, a break room, offices and a chapel for internment services. Once the “keys” are handed over the VA will take over all aspects of the building, maintenance and further improvements.
Now I would share a feel-good moment that we had.
A friend of our organization contacted me with a kind of unusual request. His father in law was on hospice care and he was also a Korean War Veteran. Could we do something special to recognize his service? I gave it all of two seconds to respond Heck Yes!!!! I was able to locate a Korean War Veteran coin (the internet has everything). Bought it and had it shipped priority. Another part of the request was that we be in uniform. So we came up with a day to present this coin on behalf of a couple very grateful soldiers. SFC Richards Akers was presented with this coin and a salute. I was told he was very appreciative of the recognition. Sadly less than a week after the presentation Richard passed away. However, if we were able to make that old soldier feel appreciated our duty was done.
It should be noted that June 25th 1950 is the anniversary of the start of the Korean War. 75 years. If you happen to know a Korean War vet, make sure to thank them.