EDITOR'S NOTE: In June 2004 I began a new venture as managing editor of both Northfield News and Faribault Daily News. This column originally appeared in the Northfield News on May 27, 2006.
Working at small newspapers, you cover your fair share of hometown ceremonies, including Memorial Day observances. Sometimes they can become rote and you dread the idea of covering another one. But even after covering Memorial Day ceremonies from one end of this state to the other, they've never failed to impress me or failed to give me chills. I suspect that it has much to do with one of the defining moments of my childhood: the death of my father. My father died when I was 12 and til this day, any type of military service tends to bring me to the verge of tears. My father was a veteran, serving during the Korean War, although he never went overseas, and he was a 20-year police officer. So you can imagine that his funeral service was filled with militaristic rituals, including the playing of taps and a 21-gun salute. I still vividly remember his graveside service and how my grief seemed to double during the mournful cry of that trumpet and how I was jolted to my inner core when I heard those rifles fire. And maybe that's why covering Memorial Day services has never lost its luster for me, even though my dad died some 20 years ago. Even the most simple of Memorial Day observances I attended in northern Minnesota towns still seem beautiful to me in hindsight. And in its first year at the Northfield Area Veterans Memorial, I'm excited to think about our local Memorial Day ceremony. I'm sure that it will be moving and I'm sure a fitting tribute to our veterans, including my father. -- Devlyn Brooks is managing editor of the Northfield News.
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