Monument is centerpiece of Richfield’s Veterans Park BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Although he is not a veteran, Reed Bornholdt is chair of Richfield’s annual Memorial Day service at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 26, at Veterans Memorial Park, 6429 Portland Ave. S. “I grew up in a small town in Iowa where the Avenue of Flags was put up at the cemetery on the edge of town for Memorial Day,” Bornholdt said. “The high school band played and there was a speaker. That’s just what I’m used to.” One branch of the military is featured each year in the Memorial Day observance at Veterans Park. This year, the Merchant Marines will be honored. A veteran from the Merchant Marines will speak, the 34th Infantry Division Red Bull concert band will play a medley of songs from all branches of the service, a retired Navy chaplain will offer an invocation, and a rifle squad will perform before “Taps” is played. The ceremony is enhanced by the park’s Honoring All Veterans Memorial monument, which includes a special honor for one of Richfield’s best-known servicemen. The Honoring All Veterans Memorial monument was dedicated in 2008 in honor of Americans who have served their country in the U.S. military. A nonprofit task force worked to build
the memorial to honor the memory of U.S. military veterans from all branches and provide a place for people to reflect and thank those who have served, are serving or will serve. The memorial is funded by the sale of engraved names on granite tablets that face a bronze statue of longtime Richfield resident Charles Lindberg. One of the traditions each Memorial Day is to pass a wireless microphone around the audience and ask people to tell a story about someone whose name is engraved on the memorial, according to Jim Topitzhofer, Richfield’s recreation service director. “It’s an emotional and inspiring thing,” Topitzhofer said. The centerpiece of the monument features an illuminated bronze statue of Chuck Lindberg and the American flag. Lindberg, a 50-year resident of Richfield, was one of four U.S. Marines who were part of the first raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. On the morning of Feb. 23, 1945, members of the 3rd Platoon, 28th Regiment, 5th Marine Division were given orders to climb and secure Mount Suribachi. Upon reaching the top, the Ma- The Honoring All Veterans Memorial monument is at Veterans Memorial Park, 6429 Portland rines raised the first American flag on Ave. S., Richfield. The centerpiece is an illuminated statue of Chuck Lindberg, a 50-year Richfield resident who was one of four U.S. Marines who were part of the first raising of the AmeriJapanese soil in the war. can flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. (Submitted photo) MONUMENT - TO PAGE 4
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Mature Lifestyles • Thursday, May 15, 2014 Page 3
1 pilot 3 years 1,000 flight hours 1,300 missions 2,000 evacuated casualties Jim Becker was a medical evacuation helicopter pilot in Vietnam for three years. (Submitted photo) BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Becker was a college student in California in 1967, “goofing around like kids in college do,” he said, when he thought he found a better deal. “The draft was very active then,” said Becker, 66, who now lives in Lakeville. “The Army had a helicopter pilot program that you could get into before you enlisted. That sounded like a good deal to me.” After a year of basic and flight training, Becker was in the southern part of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, supporting the 9th Infantry Division from California. “I was a pilot in a Medical Evacuation Helicopter Unit,” he said. “My ‘Dustoff’ helicopter crew included a co-pilot, crew chief and medic. I flew 1,000 flight hours, on 1,300 missions evacuating 2,000 U.S. and ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam) combat casualties from the field to medical facilities. “ Becker’s decision to enlist in the Army followed in a long line of family members who had been in the service, he said. “Both my parents and all seven of my uncles were in the military in World War II,” Becker said. “My dad was in the Army Air Corps, his brothers were in the Navy (and) Marines, and my namesake was an Army infantryman killed in the Philippines. My uncles on my mother’s side were in the Air Corps, Army and
Navy. My dad, wounded in the Philippines, met my Army nurse mother while he recovered in a stateside hospital.” Becker’s brother was drafted and served in Vietnam the year after Becker did. After Vietnam, Becker was only in the U.S. briefly before going to Germany for two years, where he was in another Dustoff Unit supporting training exercises. Despite the unpopularity of the Vietnam war, Becker doesn’t recall any mistreatment or negative comments directed at him when he returned home to California. However, he said, “After a long flight on my way home from Vietnam, I was in the San Francisco Airport. I had a layover and ordered a beer from the bar. Even though I was in uniform, the bartender would not honor my military ID card and refused me. Lucky for me, my flight’s flight attendant was getting coffee at the same time. She presented me with a cold one immediately after takeoff. That beer tasted mighty fine. Other than that, I don’t remember anyone paying me any mind. I will say that no one, outside of the military, asked or mentioned anything about Vietnam.” When he got out of the Army, Becker said, the police and fire departments in California had money available for hiring. Becoming a Los Angeles police officer seemed like a natural next step.
“The cultures were pretty similar, the discipline and management styles,” he said. The Los Angles Police Department has its own police academy, Becker said, and that’s where he trained for six months before going on the job. Out of 60 recruits in his academy class, only one did not have prior military experience. The early ‘70s were busy times for the Los Angeles Police Department. “There was a lot of gang activity and a high murder rate,” Becker said. “We were busy going from call to call to call.” One of the cases that garnered the nation’s attention while he was a Los Angeles cop was the Rodney King incident on March 3, 1991. King allegedly was beaten by Los Angeles cops, and four officers subsequently were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force. They were acquitted in a court trial, and that triggered riots in Los Angeles in April 1992, during which 58 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured. “I had been working undercover then, but everybody got uniforms when the riots started,” Becker said. “We worked 12-hour shifts for three weeks straight. It was pretty hectic.” PILOT - TO PAGE 6
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Monument FROM PAGE 1
ABOVE: Close-ups of the statue of longtime Richfield resident Chuck Lindberg, left, and a stained glass Purple Heart, right. BELOW: An overhead view of the Honoring All Veterans Memorial monument at Veterans Memorial Park, 6429 Portland Ave. S., Richfield
A native of Grand Forks, N.D., Lindberg moved to Richfield in 1951, worked as an electrician for 39 years, and raised two daughters and three sons with his wife, Vi. He returned to Iwo Jima for the 50th anniversary of the battle in 1995. When Lindberg died on June 24, 2007, he was the last survivor of the first flag raising at Iwo Jima. The Minnesota Legislature adopted a resolution in his honor in 1995. The Richfield memorial features six stone columns, each representing a different U.S. military branch: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marines and Navy. Granite memorial tablets display the engraved names of 120 veterans. Each engraving displays the
showed me some sketches and said we should have a monument in the park,� Topitzhofer said. “He said nothing in the park signified the importance of veterans.� Gorshe, who lives across the street from the park, says he’s a military historian and artist who has been collecting information about World War II vets since 1998. He joined the Richfield Arts Commission in 2005, and suggested a veterans’ memorial at his first meeting. Once he’d met Chuck Lindberg and heard his story, Gorshe was inspired to design the memorial. “I wanted the focal point to be on the first flag-raising at Iwo Jima,� Gorshe aid. “Chuck said, ‘Don’t make it about me; make it about all veterans.’� From there, a group “sat down and figured out how to do it,� Topitzhofer said. They wrote a grant, and received
“I’VE BEEN IN THE RECREATION FIELD FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, AND THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST REWARDING PROGRAM I’VE EVER WORKED ON.� -JIM TOPITZHOFER, RICHFIELD PARKS
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veteran’s name and branch of service, and provides a symbol to recognize soldiers that were prisoners of war, killed in action or missing in action. Lindberg’s widow, Vi, has been at the Memorial Day ceremony each year. Unfortunately, Chuck Lindberg died the year before the statue was erected in the park. However, Lindberg’s daughter, Diane Steiger of Burnsville, said her father saw the spot selected for the monument three weeks before he died. “They had a dedication for that spot,� Steiger said. “Dad said he wasn’t a hero. Everybody we talked to who knew him said he was just a very humble, easygoing guy.� When the family came to last year’s Memorial Day celebration in Richfield, it was the first time they’d seen the entire finished product, Steiger said. “Richfield did a wonderful job,� she said. “It was really, really special. I’m so glad they took down the hill between the street and the monument.� Travis Gorshe designed the monument, serving as part of a committee chaired by Len Gudmunson. “Travis approached me in 2006 and
$100,000 from the state in 2008, enough to get them started. “Travis and I went to the VFW and American Legion and asked for (board) members,� Topitzhofer said. “We wanted veterans to be the chair and vice chair, and we wanted to get people from all the trades, since Chuck Lindberg had been an electrician. The trades have been really supportive.� The task force brought in specialists, and an architect donated his time to help get the concept from sketches to a design that could be bid out, according to Topitzhofer. The goal was to raise $750,000 for the project, and money is still being collected. The memorial, dedicated last summer, took five years to build, Topitzhofer said. “I’ve been in the recreation field for more than 30 years, and this is the single most rewarding program I’ve ever worked on,� he said. The veterans’ memorial is regarded as a regional attraction, not just something for Richfield, Topitzhofer said. The park is located centrally – near the airport, close to Fort Snelling and right next to the American Legion.
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Mature Lifestyles • Thursday, May 15, 2014 Page 5
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Page 6 Mature Lifestyles• Thursday, May 15, 2014
Pilot FROM PAGE 1
His 28-year police career also spanned an earthquake in California in 1994, and the O.J. Simpson case that same year. Becker served as a patrol officer, training officer, patrol sergeant and detective during his career. “I worked in narcotics from the street level to asset forfeiture,� he said. “The last five years, I supervised a special burglary detail that conducted undercover sting operations.� His job yielded one big benefit: he met his wife, Melinda, who also was a Los Angeles Police officer for 20 years before retiring. “It was a really interesting job,� Becker said. “There were a lot of high-profile cases.� But he also knew that 28 years as a cop was enough. “When you’re done, you’re done,� said Becker.
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Being a police officer in Minnesota would be a much different job from being a police officer in Los Angeles, he said. “There’s a lot of community service here,� Becker said. “I’m always amazed at how much service people here get from their police departments. You don’t get that in big cities. I’m amazed at how much help the police departments here are to the people.� After the Beckers retired from police work, they opted to move back to Minnesota. Becker was born in Minnesota, and his father’s family still lived here, he said. For the first time in more than 30 years, retirement has offered a new and different way of life for the Beckers. The Beckers’ four children are grown, so they’re experiencing an empty nest now. “We like living on Orchard Lake,� Becker said. “In the summer, we use the paddleboat, kayak and ski boat. I’ve become a fisherman. In the winter I ski every day and go to the gym every day.� Jim Becker and his wife, Melinda, are enjoying retirement at their home in Lakeville. (Submitted photo)
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