Page 8
The Star
June 7, 2021
«I: .
’ Roger Counts, above left, holds a bugle for the playing of Taps during
a Memorial Day ceremony
at Riverside Cemetery near Dunseith as another Dunseith American Legion,
above right, lowers
the flag. Below: Dunseith area residents roam the cemetery prior to the
ceremony.
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into the burial grounds and con-
ducted a short ceremony.
Dale Juntunen took part in each of
those along with the remembrances
held in two cemeteries near Rolla. He’s
79 years old and a 46—year member of
the Fred C. Wagner Post No. 235.
Juntunen recalled being encour-
aged to join a local legion post after
he left the US. Army in 1962. A
. Rolla business owner and veteran ap-
proached him in 1975 and it’s been a
steady commitment since that time.
The Rolla Legion in the mid
1970s “was pretty busy compared to
what it’s like now,” Juntunen said.
He recalled the commradirie that led
to each member individually signing
a bank note in order to pay of an ex—
pansion of the organization’s cabin.
“I don’t remember how much it
was but we needed to pay it off,” Jun—-
tunen said. “Then we would hold‘
smokers to make money andin a few
months we had it all paid off and
money in reserve.”
Juntunen said that type of com-
mitment just isn’t there anymore and
it extends to most organizations in
smaller communities.
“There’s only a few of us still
hanging on,” said Juntunen, who al-
luded to meetings in which only four
people show up. “It’s not just in
Rolla, it’s all over.”
The Rolla post still conducts
honor guard ceremonies for funerals
along with Memorial Day and Veter-
ans Day events. Juntunen said the
current members will keep those tra-
ditions alive as long as possible, but
he is concerned about the future.
“It might get to the point when no
one is around to do that, but I would
think most of it would carry on,” Jun-
tunen said. “If it doesn’t, well, I think
we would all be disappointed.”
or decades , the Dethman
FArmstrong American Le-
gion Post No. 194 in Rolette
served as a benchmark in terms of
community involvement.
It funded the summer baseball pro-
gram, ran BINGO games in the city’s
Memorial Hall and exhibited strong
support for the local school district.
“We were quite active as far as the
city goes,” Gordon Boucher, a legion
a Allie
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Legion Posts
(Continued from Page 1) >
“It might get to the point when no one is
around to do that, but I would think most of
‘it‘v‘vould carry on. If it doesn’t, well, I think we
,would‘all be disappointed.”
Dale Juntunen, member of the
Rolla American Legion Post“
member since the early 1970s. “Then
the numbers went down. The legion
membership is getting older. There
are one or two young ones, but not
many are joining any more so we’re
not able to do as many things.”
Boucher said that while the Deth-
man Armstrong post can boast a large
membership of around 75, only
“about 15” are active in such things
as regular business as well as funeral
honor guards and Memorial Day cer—
emonies. V
Once his generation is done,
Boucher isn’t optimistic about the fu-
ture of the Rolette post and its ability
to continue its basic missions. The
thought of no more honor guards or
Memorial Day duties doesn’t still
well with the 82—year old veteran of
the US. Army.
“It doesn’t feel good because the
organization and the veterans do a lot
of good for the,community,” Boucher
said. “I see that going by the wayside
which is going to make it awfully dif-
ficult, especially in our small town.”
ack on the grassy bluff that
B is Riverside Cemetery in
Dunseith, the Memorial
Day ceremony included a reading of
all the names of veterans who served
their country and have since passed
away.
The last names were as common
to the Turtle Mountains as the trees
and lakes that dot its landscape.
At 94 and a member of the great—
est generation, Dion knew many if
not all of those veterans. He served‘
in the US. Navy and was discharged .
. in 1946.
On June 7, he and his wife,
Luella, will celebrate 71 years of
marriage. After weaving through all
those years and hearing all those
names, he spent part of last week
contemplating the end of American
Legion-led events in Dunseith.
“It could happen. There are only
about six members who really do any-
thing so it just might fold up,” said
Dion, before adding one last optimistic
wish. “I’d like to see it keep going.”
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