Ground broken at new site of Minnesota Military & Veterans Museum

More than 300 people gathered in what might have originally looked like an unremarkable field Sunday, Sept. 17. Cars bounced on the uneven grass, full of sticks and insects, to get to their parking spaces.

The reason so many people gathered was to witness the first shovels and bulldozer dig up dirt in the field, which will eventually be transformed into the 30-plus acre site of the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum. The site is located near Highway 371, across from the Little Falls State Veterans Cemetery, north of Little Falls.

“This Military and Veterans Museum has been years and years in the making and has taken the support of an awful lot of people,” said Kevin Doran, the event’s emcee. He thanked a long list of people who were instrumental in the creation of the museum, as well as special guests for being in attendance.

“Welcome to Camp Ripley,” said Assistant Adjutant General and Minnesota National Guard General Lowell Kruse. “You may not know it, but this land you’re standing on will become the next portion of the facility that we call Camp Ripley.”

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