“Please keep your hats on – that’s an order,” said Col. Howie Krinkie, although he was offering an invocation.

Even with the approximately 27-degree temperature, hundreds came out to dedicate Eden Prairie’s new Veterans Memorial. They kept their hats on – not to mention their coats, gloves and blankets.

“We had a much better turnout than I ever expected,” said John Mallo, the Eden Prairie resident who first brought the idea of building a Veterans Memorial to the Eden Prairie City Council. Mallo served as chair of the Veterans Memorial Committee, which completed its work in less than three years.

The Eden Prairie Veterans Memorial is dedicated to all veterans, from all branches of the military; two sculptures by Neil Brodin of Brodin Studios are dedicated to the sacrifice and dedication of veterans as well as world peace. The sculptures were installed only last week.

The memorial was paid for through public and private donations totaling more than $600,000, including in-kind contributions.

“Although this is the final phase of the memorial it has been designed as a living memorial allowing additional names to be added as requested,” according to a news release. “In addition, there is a portion of the memorial called the ‘Honor Wall,’ which memorializes 17 people from Eden Prairie who have been killed in service dating back to the Civil War.”

Keynote speaker Brigadier Gen. Dennis Schulstad told the assembled group that the United States is “the greatest nation that has ever been formed.

“Don’t you ever tell me that something like this is not meaningful,” he said of the memorial. “This is incredibly, incredibly meaningful. And the young men who are serving today, those who will serve in the future and those who have served in the past appreciate what you are doing here.”

For more information about the memorial, visit www.epveteransmemorial.org.

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