On Saturday, January 15, 2011, the Neillsville Wisconsin American Legion was presented with a Minnesota Memorial Riders Honorary Member plaque.

Honoring Wisconsin Fallen Heroes
July 30^th – August 1^st, 2010

We set a goal this year to honor a few fallen heroes from Wisconsin and their families. With this in mind, we set out Friday morning to Wisconsin to visit eight extraordinary families. These families have lost their son’s and in some cases have lost their father or husband. It’s hard for me to understand their loss, but what we were doing would let these families know that their loss would never be forgotten.

Our first stop Friday morning was in Ladysmith Wisconsin for SGT Nathan Vacho. SGT Nathan Vacho, 29, of Ladysmith, WI, died in Baghdad, Iraq on May 5, 2006. SGT Vacho was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 489^th Civil Affairs Battalion, Knoxville, TN. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was attached to the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, 4^th Infantry Division.  After a short break for lunch our second stop that day brought us to Loyal Wisconsin where we honored CPL Joshua M. Schmitz. CPL Joshua M. Schmitz, 22 of Loyal, WI, died December 26, 2006 in Anbar province, Iraq. CPL Schmitz was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2^nd Marine Regiment, 2^nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, NC. Our third stop brought us across town to honor another brave Hero SSG Todd D. Olson. SSG Todd, D. Olson. 36, from Loyal WI, died December 27, 2004, in the 67^th combat Support Hospital in Tikrit, Iraq. SSG Olson was assigned to the National Guard’s 1^st Battalion, 128^th Infantry Regiment, Neillsville, Wisconsin.

Saturday morning started out with a wonderful tour of the High Ground Memorial in Neillsville. If anyone has a chance to see this it is a must! Our first stop on Saturday was in Fairchild Wisconsin for SPC Charles A. Kaufman. SPC Charles A. Kaufman, 20, of Fairchild, Wisconsin, died June 26, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq. SPC Kaufman was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 1^st Battalion, 128^th Infantry, Arcadia, Wisconsin. Our second stop took us to Menomonie Wisconsin where we honored 1LT Jeremy L. Wolfe. 1LT Jeremy L. Wolfe, 27, of Menomonie, Wisconsin, was killed November 15, 2003 in Mosul, Iraq. 1LT Wolfe was assigned to the 4^th Battalion, 101^st Aviation Regiment, 101^st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY.  Our third stop a few miles down the road from Menomonie to Honor SPC Alun R. Howells. SPC Alun R. Howells, 20, of Parlin, Colorado, died August 13, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. SPC Howells was assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 64^th Armor Regiment, 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, 3^rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA. His parents now reside in Menomonie. Our fourth stop took us to Ellsworth Wisconsin where we Honored PFC Bert E. Hoyer. PFC Bert E. Hoyer, 23, of Ellsworth, Wisconsin, died March 10, 2004, in Baqubah, Iraq. SPC Hoyer was assigned to the 652^nd Engineer Company, US Army Reserve, Ellsworth, Wisconsin.

Sunday morning we were greeted with a pancake breakfast hosted by the River Falls American Legion Post 121 and the River Falls VFW Post 10818. This was truly an honor for us.  The only stop we had brought us to Hudson Wisconsin to Honor SPC Benjamin A. Smith. SPC Benjamin A. Smith, 21 of Hudson, Wisconsin, died November 2^nd, 2005, near Baghdad, Iraq. SPC Smith was assigned to the Army’s 1^st Battalion, 502^nd Infantry Regiment, 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, 101^st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, KY.

So on behalf of the Minnesota Memorial Riders, this weekend was dedicated to all the brave men and women we met along the way, but especially dedicated to the heroes and their families listed above. It was our honor to spend time with you. This is truly an honor.

Sincerely,

Minnesota Memorial Riders Chairman

We recently decided to move our website to new hosting provider that offered a number of features that were not availble through our old provider.  The new site was completed and put into production on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, at midnight.

The general look and feel is still the same but there are a few significant enhancements that we hope will make the site more user-friendly and easier to find the information you are looking for.

The enhancements include:

• The ability to search the site using the Search feature on the right side of the screen.
• The ability to subscribe to an RSS feed for the site so you will know when new information is available.  This feature is also available on the right-side navigation area.
• A new News & Events area that is presented in a blog-style format making it much easier to quickly get to find and access information.  This includes the ability to filter News &  Event postings by defined categories such as MMR News, MMR Events, Non-MMR Events, etc.  You can also filter postings by the month in which they were posted.  This new filtering capability is also available via the right-side navigation area.
• The ability to easily print a News & Event posting in a printer-friendly format. Just select the Print Article icon under any posting.
• The ablity to e-mail a News & Event posting link.  Just select the E-Mail Article link under any posting and enter the recipent's e-mail address and any comments.
• The ability to share a News & Event posting via one of many social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace to name a few.  Again, this feature is available by selecting the Share Article icon under any posting.
• An enhanced photo gallery for sharing MMR ride and event photos.  The photo gallery on the previous site only showed photos in a slideshow format that didn't allow you to get an idea of what photos were available and you couldn't just jump to a particular photo.  Our new photo gallery shows you thumbnail views of each photo in the album so you can get a quick idea of what's there, jump right to a particular photo, or move through each photo in a lightbox viewer.

The new site is also much easier to update from an administrative perspective allowing us to post information on the site much quicker.

We hope that you find these new features beneficial and we look forward to having you come back and visit us often.  Also, feel free to add a comment to this post and let us know what you think of the new site!

Jack was born in 1925 in St. Paul, Minnesota.  At age seventeen Jack enlisted in the U.S. Army to show his patriotism and fight for his country in World War II.  After completing boot camp in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and Durham, North Carolina he left for battle from Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

Sergeant Entwistle served in Company A, 282nd combat platoon special forces, a front line combat infantry battalion which served in North Africa, England, France, Germany, Belgium and surrounding countries.

 Sergeant Entwistle was in many historic battles including the Battle of the Bulge, Black Forest, Rhineland and Central Europe Battles, Ardeeneo, and was one of the first boats to land on Normandy Beach.  Sergeant Entwistle was wounded twice, once from grenade shrapnel to both legs and the other was a bullet to the chest resulting in the loss of a lung.  Sergeant Entwistle was captured in Germany and escaped as the sole survivor from his POW group.  These battles and heroism earned Sergeant Entwistle many awards including the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Award, Two Overseas Bars, Victory Lapel Pin, American Theatre, European Theatre, and Middle Eastern Ribbons.  General Patton himself pinned three of these awards to Sergeant Entwisle to show Americans thanks for his Heroism and Patriotism.

In 1946 Sergeant Entwistle was discharged from the U.S. Army where he returned home to West St. Paul, Minnesota and resumed his job at Cudahay Meat Packing.  Jack went on to work for American Hoist as a steel worker before retiring at age sixty-two from Choban Reality as a carpenter.  After retirement Jack continued to work as a self employed carpenter and general handyman.

Jack married his life partner Juanita “Nita” Russell soon after he returned from the war.  Jack and Nita raised four children, Joyce, John Junior, Pauline and Delbert “Bud”.  Jack is also a grandfather to many grandchildren and great grand children. At age eighty-five Jack now lives in Stillwater, Minnesota.

On Saturday March 6, 2010, Minnesota Memorial Riders had the privilege of honoring 10 fallen heroes from Northwestern Wisconsin...

View the MMR Event Letter (PDF 17KB)
View a copy of the Event Program (PDF 304KB)

Hello Everyone,

Minnesota has joined in with forty other states around our nation as we honor our Gold Star Families. The Department of Motor Vehicles is now offering “Gold Star Family” License Plates. They will be available to any surviving spouse or parent of a soldier who has given the ultimate sacrifice. Applications for the plates can be made by mail, at any state Driver and Vehicle Services registrars office, or through www.mndriveinfo.org. The license plates will be issued starting October 1st.

The Gold Star Families organization dates back to World War I as a way to honor service members killed during the war. In 1928, a group of 25 mothers living in Washington created a national nonprofit called the American Gold Star Mothers Inc.

As the holidays draw near, remember to keep a special place in your hearts for all of our service men and women who are serving our country at home and abroad. At any given opportunity we should let those who have served and are stilling serving along with their families know how much their commitment to our country means to us as they protect our freedom.

Recently a Seattle man began a Gratitude Campaign to thank soldiers. Many feel it might be uncomfortable to approach someone unknown to them and shake their hand in thanks. This is a gesture we can all use…

The gesture starts with your hand on your heart as if you're about to do the Pledge of Allegiance. And then you just bring the hand down and out in front of you. It actually means thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To all of our Veterans… Thank you.

Best Regards,

Chairman
Minnesota Memorial Riders

PATRIOT DAY (September 11th)

Patriot Day is observed on September 11th, designated in memory of over three thousand Americans who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Most American’s refer to the day as 9/11.

U.S. House of Representatives Joint Resolution 71 was approved by a vote of 407-0 on October 25, 2001. It requested that the President designate September 11 each year as “Patriot Day”. President George W. Bush signed the resolution into law on December 18, 2001.

Initially, the day was called Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims Of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001.

On this day, the president directs that the American flag be flown at half-staff and displayed from individual American homes, at the white house, and on all U.S. government buildings and establishments, home and aboard. The President also asks Americans to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 am, the time of the first plane crash on September 11, 2001.

Minnesota Memorial Riders will observe a moment of silence in remembrance of all the men and women who were lost that day and days after as well as those who have given their lives since the attack on September 11th, 2001. As part of our tribute to these brave people we are hosting a “Remember 9/11” event at Route 65 in E. Bethel on Friday Sept 11, 2009 from 7-9 PM. We hope you can join us.

Certainly we can all remember where we were at the time the first plane crashed into the Twin Towers, I know I do.

Chairman,
Minnesota Memorial Riders