Staff photo by Fritz Busch The New Ulm Battery fires a three-shot salute at the New Ulm Memorial Day Observance at the New Ulm City Cemetery Monday.

NEW ULM — Three New Ulm Battery Cannon shots echoed in the Minnesota River Valley next to large crowd attending the Memorial Day Observance under bright sunshine at the New Ulm City Cemetery Monday.

New Ulm Comrades of Valor Bugler Joe Schotzko played “Taps” after the cannons were fired.

Following music by the New Ulm Municipal Band, Ben Groebner, the son of Amanda and Nate Groebner read the Gettysburg Address delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, Gettysburg, PA on Nov. 19, 1863.

A 2024 American Legion Boys State Delegate and 2025 New Ulm High School grad, Groebner is attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Brayden Haynes, the son of Anna and Brad Haynes, gave the memorial address. He is also a 2024 American Legion Boys State Delegate and 2025 NUHS graduate.

At Boys State, he passed the first amendment to its constitution for the first time in more than six decades, with over 90% approval. He plans to attend the University of Wisconsin at River Falls and major in political science and sociology with an economics minor.

“Many people know someone, a friend, family member or neighbor that is serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. These people are willing to lay down everything they have every single day to pay the ultimate price to protect the lives of every single person here,” said Haynes.

“To me, it’s prudent to look at the historical origins of the armed forces to best understand what this means. Look back to the Civil War and the most bloody period of American history. Since then, veterans have fallen in every single war. They’ve laughed, cried, lived and died,” he said.

Haynes said the memories live on of veterans taken by death.

“That is why we celebrate Memorial Day. This is why its important to thank veterans for their service and remember them for being willing to sacrifice everything they have for us,” he said.

Master of ceremonies, VFW Post 1648 Commander and New Ulm Comrades of Valor Honor Guard member and Vietnam Army Veteran Tom Roesch talked about U.S. war losses.

We lost 620,000 lives in the Civil War, than 116,000 military members in World War I; more than 405,000 in World War II, 36,500 in Korea, more than 58,000 in Vietnam, 294 in the Gulf War, and 2,325 in Afghanistan and 4,500 in Iraq. That’s quite a price for what we have here today. Thank those people for preserving our freedom. They made sure nobody took it from us,” said master of ceremonies Tom Roesch.

He read the names of 34 more New Ulm veterans who died in the past year — Donald Balbach, Richard Baumann, Leo Berg, Richard Berg, Glen Blaalid, Mary Bohnen, Izzy Faerber Jr. Donald Forster, Dr. Charles Hintz, Harry Hofmeister, Kenneth Johnson, Butch Jones, Donald Klossner, John Klotz, Thomas Krause, Luther Larson, Larry Murphy, Einar Nelson, Narve Nelson, Bruce Nordine, Wallace Prader, Larry Rathmann, Gene Rolloff, Keith Rolloff, Daniel Rose, Michael Rose, Bruce Savoy, Darwin Stresemann, Bill Tacke, Dennis Wegner, “Smiley” Wiltscheck, Curt Windschitl, Elson Winter, and Eugene Zobel.

Roesch said there are a number of veterans organizations available to help veterans or their widows and dependents having difficulty with anything at anytime. They include the Brown County Veterans Service Office, American Legion, VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), DAV (Disabled American Veterans).

“They are a number of organizations across the state that collaborate and want to help,” said Roesch.

The Concord Singers performed “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

Everyone was invited to lunch at the American Legion Post 132 club after the observance.