Masthead, Editorial
The views of the Minnesota Legionnaire

The Minnesota Legionnaire

First published in 1920 as the Hennepin County Legionnaire, the Minnesota Legionnaire is now in its 91st year of publication.  It is published monthly by The American Legion, Department of Minnesota, 20 West Twelfth Street, St. Paul, MN 55155-2069.   The Legionnaire is a member of the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the National American Legion Press Association.

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BOARD OF PUBLICATION MEMBERS:     President, Tom Lannon, Prior Lake; Secretary, Randy Tesdahl, St. Francis;  Treasurer, Richard Horn, Melrose;  Board Members include:   Virgil Persing, Columbia Heights;  Bob Hirmer, Marshall; Don Amundson, Blue Earth; Clinton Burt, Slayton; Joe Bayer, Minneapolis; Tom Matejka, Breckinridge; Darlene Wondra, Montgomery; Linda Thompson, Fridley.

No longer missing

The homecoming of Major Thomas Beyer to his family and friends and the veterans community of Fargo should remind us of the importance of continuing the search for the men and women missing in action in the wars.
We will never find all of the missing in action -- or even a large percentage of them -- but it's a task well-worth pursuing.
Maj. Beyer crashed in Vietnam in 1968. Ten years later, he was officially declared dead.
Yet, for the family, there is never really closure for a loved one who simply never came home. Every rational part of the intellect can tell us that the soldier is dead, but without the body, the funeral service, the grieving and sharing in the family, the heart can never quite close the book.
Major Beyer is home now. Hundreds turned out at a large church in Fargo to participate in the rite that had been delayed for four decades. For many Vietnam veterans, this was a special occasion to not only mourn the loss of a brother and comrade, but to bring another step of closure in their own lives.
For the family, it was a time to gather and mourn and to celebrate the life of this extraordinary hero.
The Minnesota American Legion, with the Moorhead Post 21 as the pall bearers for the ceremony, was proud to be part of this incredible day.
Only seven or eight of these funerals happen each year in the United States. The scientific breakthroughs of the last decade or so have enabled the certainty to connect families with their soldiers.
Finding these missing in action is an expensive task, and it requires international diplomacy of the highest order, but the results are so positive for families and communities that we should never give up the effort.
For the families, it's a chance to find that final goodbye. For the community, it's a chance to gather and mourn and celebrate our own past, our own service.
Welcome home, Major Beyer.