Dakota County opens the first part of the Greenway Veterans Memorial – Twin Cities

Kyle Anderson says it all felt like 10 seconds, from the time a bomb exploded near his convoy in Fallujah, Iraq, sending shrapnel ripping through the Marine Corps corporal’s helmet, to the time he emerged from a coma three months later.

Two weeks ago, he made the short trip in his Polaris SUV from his driveway in Inver Grove Heights to cut the yellow ribbon on the new Greenway Veterans Memorial in Dakota County.

It was only a minute’s drive away, but it’s 20 years of intensive physical therapy, daily speech therapy, multiple surgeries, and endless perseverance.

Dakota County officials recently celebrated the construction of the first phase the new Greenway Veterans Memoriala three-part project that will eventually connect Lebanon Hills Regional Park and the Mississippi River Greenway with five miles of trails interspersed with memorials to military veterans and their families.

The first phase is a central 2-mile stretch of greenway between Alameda Path and Rich Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights. A ribbon was recently cut on the new tunnel under 105th Street across from Rich Valley Park. The tunnel was designed to resemble a battlefield trench, designed with input from an advisory committee made up of local veterans and their families.

Anderson’s one-minute drive to the memorial was enough for Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins, a man not usually glassy-eyed, to take a moment to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

Atkins has known Anderson and his family since they moved next door to the former Inver Grove Heights mayor a decade ago. At one time, Anderson even babysat Atkins’ children. The longtime politician watched the boy grow into a state champion wrestler at Simley High School and then earn a Marine Corps medal. A few days before his own wounding, Anderson pulled a badly wounded soldier to safety during a firefight.

“His family moved to us when he was a very small boy. I remember him running in the yard. He moved without stopping. You couldn’t slow that kid down,” Atkins said. “He inspired me at the Greenway Veterans Memorial. I’m not a very sensitive guy, but it made me cry, especially when Kyle cut the ribbon.”

After suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq in 2004, Anderson had to relearn what was once the easiest task for the then athletic 19-year-old. Getting out of bed? He had to re-teach his body how to even take a step. Are you joking with a friend? He had to retrain his brain to form words. Any words.

Now 39, Anderson uses a hearing aid, speaks with a slur and is still limited on the right side of his body. But he is able to walk and talk on his own. Over the years, he visited hospitals and nursing homes across the country for intensive physical, mental and speech therapy. His friends say that his natural sociability never left him.

“Never quit,” Anderson said when asked about his recovery, repeating a familiar mantra and pointing to his head. “Keep a positive mind. Starting over is not easy. If I could do it, you could do it.”

Two men ceremonially cut the ribbon, surrounded by people, including two in wheelchairs. — Kyle Anderson (center) helps cut the ribbon to celebrate the first phase of the new Dakota County Veterans Memorial during a ceremony Oct. 15, 2024, near Rich Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights. Dakota County received $10 million in state funds and nearly $6 million in federal funds for the Greenway Veterans Memorial project. (Courtesy of Dakota County)

When asked how he felt about the new memorial being about 500 yards from his home and being able to cut the memorial ribbon with other Dakota County veterans as local, state and federal officials looked on, Anderson said that he “loved it.” ” before making a joke.

“You know the movie Dumb and Dumber?” Anderson asked, quoting the classic Jim Carrey film. “I like it. I really like it,” he said with a genuine smile.

Rich Valley becomes the Veterans Memorial

The Rich Valley Greenway has had a long history dating back several decades, but Atkins said it had been sitting on a shelf collecting dust for many years.

“It’s been talked about since I was mayor of Inver Grove Heights, which was from 1992 to 2002, so it’s been talked about since I still had dark hair,” Atkins joked.

At a Dakota County Board meeting at least four years ago, Atkins suggested changing the name and bringing in the veterans community, almost as an afterthought to an unrelated matter. His colleagues liked the idea, and the plan began to gain momentum. Dakota County is home to 22,000 veterans, including largest population of veterans in Minnesota.

In 2020, the county board officially approved the renaming of the Rich Valley Greenway to the Veterans Memorial Greenway.

For the new direction, Dakota County Director of Veterans Services Lisa Thomas asked for a veterans’ advisory committee to help with design and content choices. Thomas, who served in the U.S. Army National Guard as well as the U.S. Air Force Reserve, said the group wants the broader community to feel a part of the memorial. The aim was for the memorial to be intertwined with nature, where people could find peace and also share space with each other.

Often, a veterans memorial is placed in a somber location, allowing visitors to quietly reflect and remember their sacrifices. But it doesn’t allow people to remember their family members or friends in a very social way.

Those involved in the planning often argued that military families would have more social space to remember those stories. Meanwhile, families with no military connection could stop on a bike ride from the Lebanon Hills and learn about a local who served.

“We’ve been talking about it for years. We didn’t want to put up a monument or a small plaque. It will be an interactive memorial,” Thomas said. “Seeing this as a veteran, I couldn’t be more proud. I don’t often get emotional, but this made me emotional. They listened and did everything right.”

The second phase begins

Each leg of the 5-mile Veterans Memorial Trail will include memorial plazas highlighting military service and sacrifice, and will include eight major sites along with other smaller “nodes” throughout the trail. (Courtesy of Dakota County)

The first phase is nearly complete, and the county will now begin collecting applications for the second phase, which will run east from Lakeside Park in Eagan, off Dodd Road, to Alameda Path in Inver Grove Heights. The timeline for the second phase is expected to stretch to 2026, said Tony Wotzka, Dakota County greenways manager and project manager. The third leg will begin in Rich Valley Park and travel east to the Mississippi River.

Work on the final phase is expected to last until 2027.

According to Atkins, the greenway provides a necessary corridor for pedestrian safety. Dakota County officials estimate that more than 200,000 people use the Mississippi River Road annually. This new trail system is expected to reach this level of use as well.

The Greenway is financed by $10 million in state bonds, nearly $6 million in federal funds and $8.4 million in tax-exempt funds. Other donation opportunities may arise in relation to memorials.

Eight different memorials, or “nodes,” honoring specific branches or experiences of military service will span the length of the greenway.

In this first phase of the greenway, memorials along the trail include: commemorating places that served Dakota County veterans, a Purple Heart plaza, and a restored prairie honoring Minnesota’s missing soldiers and prisoners of war.

One of the memorials in the third phase will honor Gold Star families, those affected by the loss of a close family member who served during the conflict.

One idea is to interview ex-servicemen, record their stories and create interactive kiosks where a person can press a button and hear different experiences.

“I think the more input from the community and the public, the more alive and relevant the memorial will be,” Pam Schultz said. Her son, Christopher Gecke, died in 2010 when insurgents bombed a police station in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and enemy fighters peppered the area with rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire.

“The feeling that he is remembered is very important. Obviously, as his family, we will never forget him, but knowing that other people remember him and his sacrifice is important,” Schultz said.

Chris Gock, a 2004 graduate of Apple Valley High School and a 2008 graduate of the United States Military Academy, was 23 years old. He is buried at Fort Snelling. The cemetery is a place to remember him—his family remembers how Goecke was a lifelong learner, a sixth-grader at West Point and always willing to explore different and new subjects—but the memorials are a place that is more blends in with the community, Schultz said. .

It will be a place to share happy moments and laugh out loud.

Schultz serves on the board of the Warrior 196 Leadership Foundation, a group founded to support future students of the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public School District in memory of five former students who died in the line of duty: Goecke, Nathanael Doering , Benjamin Kopp, Daniel Olsen, and Andrew Wilfarth.

“There is already a playground near the Gold Star family site, and it will be a place where families and children can come and play. Then they are part of the memorial in a sense,” Schultz said. “One of Chris’ old friends said, ‘Gosh, (the greenway) is less than a mile from my house. I’m going to go and walk with my kids and we can talk about veterans and we can talk about Chris. I think I’m going to include it as a place we go as a family.”

Memorials are taking shape

Crews finish concrete work on the future memorial plaza near Rich Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights. Work is almost complete on the first phase of the new Veterans Memorial Trail, which is being built in three phases through Inver Grove Heights and Eagan. (Courtesy of Dakota County)

Back at the completed tunnel, Anderson got into his Polaris and guided a reporter through the first leg of the route. He pointed to two new roads east of Akron Avenue and north of Cliff Road. The area will become a Missing in the World memorial, a restored prairie with a loop around the main trail, equipped with benches and an audio kiosk of local veterans.