MY CREDIT UNION joined Flags for Fort Snelling and their mission to blanket Fort Snelling in a sea of red, white, and blue to ensure Minnesota Memorial Traditions are restored and are never forgotten.
Fort Snelling National Cemetery, home to over 200,000 veterans, once honored each headstone with an American flag on Memorial Day. However, the tradition ceased in the mid-1980s due to the cemetery’s expansion.
Inspired by her 2015 visit, Joanne Malmstedt, backed by MY CREDIT UNION, established the Flags for Fort Snelling organization to restore this tradition, raising $400,000 by 2018 for flags and volunteers. That year, for the first time in nearly 35 years, every headstone displayed an American flag for Memorial Weekend.
In 2022, a new tradition was added. Over 100 motorcycle enthusiasts rode from Veterans Park in Richfield to Fort Snelling National Cemetery. The highest ranking motorcycle club member had the honor of placing the very first flag (out of 200,000) at George Mallon’s headstone, the first veteran laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in 1939. The rest of the motorcycle club members, many veterans themselves, then join in placing flags at headstones along Mallon Drive.
Members of the Bloomington Jefferson Football team also participated in 2022 by helping to load and unload the trucks needed to haul all 200,000 flags to the cemetery. They also were given the honor of placing flags in Section 7, which includes prominent Jefferson Alum, Thomas Burnett Jr, hero from 9/11.
MY CREDIT UNION staff, Board members, members and other special guests proudly place flags at over 10,000 headstones, including Section M and Section Y. By Sunday afternoon all 200,000+ headstones proudly fly an American Flag.
To learn more about Flags for Fort Snelling, volunteer opportunities, or to donate and ensure this tradition continues, please visit Flags For Fort Snelling online.