Prior Lake’s Tom Lannon has been elected as the new commander of the Minnesota American Legion.

The 66-year-old is a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War. He was elected at the Legion’s annual convention in Rochester last weekend.
Lannon will serve as commander for the coming year for the state Legion, which has 95,000 members in 550 posts.

A retired Scott County deputy auditor, Lannon said the Legion faces the challenge of attracting new, younger members while not forgetting its older members.

Residents of Prior Lake and the surrounding area will honor veterans during the annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony on Monday, May 31.

The parade will begin at 9 a.m. and travel down Main Avenue and across Highway 13 to Memorial Park, 5181 160th St. Parade participants will line up between 8:30 and 9 a.m. in the parking lot of the VFW.

A program at the park will begin at 9:30 a.m. The tentative program agenda includes:

Flag raising by World War II veteran Myles Mares and newly elected Commander Eric Satersmoen

National anthem by Prior Lake High School band

The Scott County Veterans Service Office is seeking photos of deceased veterans from Scott County to honor them this Memorial Day.

The pictures will be on display at the Government Center in Shakopee. Photos would ideally be of veterans in their military uniforms; however, if there is none, any photo could be used.

The photos can be brought or mailed to the Veterans Service Office, as soon as possible, where they will be scanned and immediately returned to the owner. The address is: Scott County Veterans Service, Government Center Room 212, 200 Fourth Ave. W., Shakopee, MN 55379.

By Lori Carlson, Editor
When John Hamre returned from serving in the Vietnam War, he was afraid to even tell people he was in the Army.

“We were treated pretty badly when we got back,” Hamre recalls.

Though soldiers returning from duty in Iraq haven’t been shunned and disparaged like many soldiers were at the end of America’s combat role in Vietnam, today’s servicemen and women – and their families – are still very much in need of support, said Hamre, a Prior Lake resident whose son, Leif, served in Iraq.

Members of the community are invited to attend a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon event from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 16 in the Archangels Hall at the Church of St. Michael, 16311 Duluth Ave., Prior Lake.

The ecumenical event is open to members of all churches in Scott and Dakota counties. Colonel Kevin Gerdes will speak about the importance of long-term support for members of the military and their families.

For more information, contact John Hamre at (952) 447-2605 or Deacon Dick Roy at (952) 447-2491, ext. 114.

The Scott County Chapter of Pheasants Forever is inviting Minnesota military personnel – who have returned from actively serving abroad within the past two years – to participate in their 2nd Annual “Operation: Upland Pheasant Hunt” at the Caribou Gun Club and Hunting Preserve in Le Sueur on Saturday, March 27.