Fort Snelling National Cemetery - Minneapolis, MN
Aug 1, 2006 18:20:31 GMT -6
Post by Moderator on Aug 1, 2006 18:20:31 GMT -6
Fort Snelling National Cemetery
7601 34th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55450-1199
Phone: (612) 726-1127
FAX: (612) 725-2059 or (612) 726-9119
Office Hours:
To Schedule A Burial:
Visitation Hours:
April - October (During Daylight Savings Time)
October - April
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Burial Space: This cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed and cremated remains.
Acreage: 436.3
An information kiosk is located on-site.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cemetery is located adjacent to the St. Paul/Minneapolis International Airport on 34th Avenue between Post Road and Interstate 494. From the airport, take Highway 5 to Highway 494 west. Exit at Post Road or 34th Avenue.
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MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS
Fort Snelling National Cemetery (FSNC) is the home of the first all-volunteer Memorial Rifle Squad (MRS) in the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). The MRS performed their first service in June 1979. There is a squad for each day of the week, aptly identified as the Monday Squad, Tuesday Squad, Wednesday Squad, etc. They can provide honors daily for as many as 17 veterans between the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (No services are scheduled on Saturday, Sunday or federal holidays).
The squad members are all veterans and each squad has a bugler who plays Taps. As of June 1, 2007, they had rendered the final salute for 48,673 veterans. To join this elite squad requires only having honorable military service to this country.
This Memorial Rifle Squad has served as the "benchmark" for veterans organizations from other national cemeteries desiring to form an honor guard unit to provide the final salute to deceased veterans. A special note of interest is that their average age is 71.6 years old and they have never missed a scheduled service during their existence because of inclement Minnesota weather.
Memorial Rifle Squad Circle is located on Kraus Avenue and is the location of a Memorial Monument that perpetuates the memory of this elite squad. Please contact the cemetery office for scheduling information.
FLORAL/GROUNDS REGULATIONS
Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.
Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Fresh cut and artificial flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become faded and unsightly.
Christmas wreaths or grave blankets may be placed on graves starting Nov. 1 and will be removed starting Jan. 20 of each year, weather permitting. Grave floral blankets may not be larger in size than two by three feet. They may not be secured to headstones or markers.
Permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, breakable objects, pinwheels, balloons, toys and stuffed animals and similar commemorative items are not permitted on the graves at any time. Unauthorized items removed from gravesites that appear to be of significant value will be held for 30 days and may be reclaimed during this time. Notify the Visitors Center if reclaim is desired of an item that may have been held for 30 days.
Please be aware that small American flags are not considered to be floral items and will be removed from gravesites except during the period of 10 days before to 10 days after Memorial Day.
Floral items should be placed at the side of headstones in line with the headstone row. This allows for equipment operations and prevents damage to floral items. Floral items should not be secured to headstones or markers.
Your cooperation and assistance in helping us to maintain this facility as a national shrine is sincerely appreciated.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Fort Snelling National Cemetery is located in Minneapolis, Minn. The original Fort Snelling was established in 1805 near the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. However, it was not until 1820 that a permanent post named Fort St. Anthony was constructed under the supervision of Col. Josiah Snelling. Gen. Winfield Scott was so impressed with the conditions at Fort St. Anthony during his first inspection in 1824 that he recommended the installation be renamed Fort Snelling.
Its original purpose was to keep peace on the western frontier, but in 1855 as the frontier moved further west, troops were withdrawn from Fort Snelling. With the outbreak of the Civil War, the fort was reopened and functioned as both an assembly ground and training camp for Minnesota volunteers. It remained open at the end of the Civil War and continued to be used as a training center. In 1947, the Fort Snelling Military Reservation was deactivated as a post, although it continues to function today as the headquarters for the 88th Army Reserve Command.
The Fort Snelling cemetery was established in 1870 to serve as a burial ground for the soldiers who died while stationed at the post. Following World War I, as new legislation expanded the eligibility requirements for burial in a national cemetery, the citizens of St. Paul organized a petition to designate a national cemetery in their area. In 1937, Congress responded with legislation that authorized a portion of land at Fort Snelling Military Reservation for this purpose.
Fort Snelling National Cemetery was established in 1939 with the first burial on July 5, of Capt. George H. Mallon, whose acts of heroism at Meuse-Argonne in France were recognized with the Congressional Medal of Honor. Following the dedication of the new cemetery, arrangements were made for the exhumation of the remains of those buried at the older post cemetery and the reinterment of the 680 soldiers who served from 1820-1939 buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery. The 1930s were also a major boom era for national cemetery growth. Ft. Snelling is one of a dozen or so very large cemeteries conceived between World War I and World War II to serve large veteran populations in some cities.
In May 1960, Fort Snelling Air Force Station transferred 146 acres of land to the national cemetery. One more land transfer of 177 acres followed in 1961, bringing the cemetery to its present size. Because of the frigid winters, about 1,000 graves are dug each fall to be used for winter interments.
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS
Fort Snelling National Cemetery contains a memorial pathway that is lined with a variety of veteran's memorials from various organizations. As of Aug. 2006, there are 64 memorials at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, most commemorating soldiers of the 20th-century wars.
NOTABLE PERSONS
Medal of Honor Recipients
Others
7601 34th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55450-1199
Phone: (612) 726-1127
FAX: (612) 725-2059 or (612) 726-9119
Office Hours:
To Schedule A Burial:
Visitation Hours:
April - October (During Daylight Savings Time)
October - April
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burial Space: This cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed and cremated remains.
Acreage: 436.3
An information kiosk is located on-site.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cemetery is located adjacent to the St. Paul/Minneapolis International Airport on 34th Avenue between Post Road and Interstate 494. From the airport, take Highway 5 to Highway 494 west. Exit at Post Road or 34th Avenue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MILITARY FUNERAL HONORS
Fort Snelling National Cemetery (FSNC) is the home of the first all-volunteer Memorial Rifle Squad (MRS) in the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). The MRS performed their first service in June 1979. There is a squad for each day of the week, aptly identified as the Monday Squad, Tuesday Squad, Wednesday Squad, etc. They can provide honors daily for as many as 17 veterans between the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (No services are scheduled on Saturday, Sunday or federal holidays).
The squad members are all veterans and each squad has a bugler who plays Taps. As of June 1, 2007, they had rendered the final salute for 48,673 veterans. To join this elite squad requires only having honorable military service to this country.
This Memorial Rifle Squad has served as the "benchmark" for veterans organizations from other national cemeteries desiring to form an honor guard unit to provide the final salute to deceased veterans. A special note of interest is that their average age is 71.6 years old and they have never missed a scheduled service during their existence because of inclement Minnesota weather.
Memorial Rifle Squad Circle is located on Kraus Avenue and is the location of a Memorial Monument that perpetuates the memory of this elite squad. Please contact the cemetery office for scheduling information.
FLORAL/GROUNDS REGULATIONS
Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.
Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Fresh cut and artificial flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become faded and unsightly.
Christmas wreaths or grave blankets may be placed on graves starting Nov. 1 and will be removed starting Jan. 20 of each year, weather permitting. Grave floral blankets may not be larger in size than two by three feet. They may not be secured to headstones or markers.
Permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, breakable objects, pinwheels, balloons, toys and stuffed animals and similar commemorative items are not permitted on the graves at any time. Unauthorized items removed from gravesites that appear to be of significant value will be held for 30 days and may be reclaimed during this time. Notify the Visitors Center if reclaim is desired of an item that may have been held for 30 days.
Please be aware that small American flags are not considered to be floral items and will be removed from gravesites except during the period of 10 days before to 10 days after Memorial Day.
Floral items should be placed at the side of headstones in line with the headstone row. This allows for equipment operations and prevents damage to floral items. Floral items should not be secured to headstones or markers.
Your cooperation and assistance in helping us to maintain this facility as a national shrine is sincerely appreciated.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Fort Snelling National Cemetery is located in Minneapolis, Minn. The original Fort Snelling was established in 1805 near the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. However, it was not until 1820 that a permanent post named Fort St. Anthony was constructed under the supervision of Col. Josiah Snelling. Gen. Winfield Scott was so impressed with the conditions at Fort St. Anthony during his first inspection in 1824 that he recommended the installation be renamed Fort Snelling.
Its original purpose was to keep peace on the western frontier, but in 1855 as the frontier moved further west, troops were withdrawn from Fort Snelling. With the outbreak of the Civil War, the fort was reopened and functioned as both an assembly ground and training camp for Minnesota volunteers. It remained open at the end of the Civil War and continued to be used as a training center. In 1947, the Fort Snelling Military Reservation was deactivated as a post, although it continues to function today as the headquarters for the 88th Army Reserve Command.
The Fort Snelling cemetery was established in 1870 to serve as a burial ground for the soldiers who died while stationed at the post. Following World War I, as new legislation expanded the eligibility requirements for burial in a national cemetery, the citizens of St. Paul organized a petition to designate a national cemetery in their area. In 1937, Congress responded with legislation that authorized a portion of land at Fort Snelling Military Reservation for this purpose.
Fort Snelling National Cemetery was established in 1939 with the first burial on July 5, of Capt. George H. Mallon, whose acts of heroism at Meuse-Argonne in France were recognized with the Congressional Medal of Honor. Following the dedication of the new cemetery, arrangements were made for the exhumation of the remains of those buried at the older post cemetery and the reinterment of the 680 soldiers who served from 1820-1939 buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery. The 1930s were also a major boom era for national cemetery growth. Ft. Snelling is one of a dozen or so very large cemeteries conceived between World War I and World War II to serve large veteran populations in some cities.
In May 1960, Fort Snelling Air Force Station transferred 146 acres of land to the national cemetery. One more land transfer of 177 acres followed in 1961, bringing the cemetery to its present size. Because of the frigid winters, about 1,000 graves are dug each fall to be used for winter interments.
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS
Fort Snelling National Cemetery contains a memorial pathway that is lined with a variety of veteran's memorials from various organizations. As of Aug. 2006, there are 64 memorials at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, most commemorating soldiers of the 20th-century wars.
NOTABLE PERSONS
Medal of Honor Recipients
Others