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Quentin Aanenson's letter used for tribute stone

Lead Summary
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By
Mavis Fodness

At the Minnesota Military Family Tribute (MFT), dedicated Saturday, June 13, there are 87 story stones, one to represent each county in the state.
On each of the stones is an inscription from correspondence between deployed soldiers and their families at home.
Rock County Veteran Service Officer Dave Haugom was notified by MFT organizers late last year to supply three sentences, with one being selected by their committee to be etched in the stone representing Rock County.
“I have purposely not told you much about my world over here, because I thought it might upset you,” was etched into the Sioux quartzite stone.
Haugom said he brought local representatives from the American Legion, VFW, the Historical Society and the county together to offer inscription suggestions. The group chose the sentence from a 1945 letter written by Quentin Aanenson.
“Quentin is a real part of our (county’s) history,” Haugom said.
Aanenson grew up in Rock County and was a World War II veteran and fighter pilot. Aanenson documented his war experiences for his family, which later became material for Ken Burns’ documentary called “The War.” In the documentary, Aanenson read the letter to his future wife, Jackie, that included the line that Haugom’s group chose to inscribe in the county’s story stone.
Aanenson died in 2008.
His wife, Jackie, continues to live in Bethesda, Maryland.
The MFT is located at the State Capitol Mall in St. Paul. It was built as a personal thank you to each spouse, significant other, parent, grandparent, sibling and any other person or former member of our U.S. military defined as family who provide the true foundation of support of our military personnel.
Besides history stones, the first-of-its-kind tribute also features a thank walkway and a Gold Star table.

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