Freedom Rock installed in Vergas, MN

VERGAS, Minn. (Valley News Live) – An artistic landmark honoring military veterans has been installed in Vergas, Minnesota.

A Freedom Rock now sits in the Veterans Memorial Park, which is located right along Frazee Avenue in Vergas.

The artist says there is a story behind all of the images on display.

“The Freedom Rock committee there were great hosts and have a good start on a Veterans Memorial Park that they continue to add to,” said artist Ray Sorensen.

According the The Freedom Rock Facebook page, this is the 8th Freedom Rock installed in Minnesota.

The Freedom Rock & Freedom Rock Foundation says the original Freedom Rock is a large boulder in Adair County, Iowa, that is painted with American and Veteran themed murals by Ray “Bubba” Sorensen. The Foundation seeks to care for the Freedom Rocks and create memorials in honor of those who have served our country.

The following is what Bubba posted about his artwork in Vergas:

The front side is a nod to Minnesota, Otter Tail County and the local lake area, with the loon and the eagle landing on a sunset lake. The ribbon in honor those who served with those iconic words “All Gave Some, Some Gave All.” Old glory rolls over the top for all Americans.

The back side, feature a couple of stories, first the helicopter: From a Star Tribune article: “Three men, one from the Vergas area, boarded a UH-60 Black Hawk for a routine maintenance test flight and lifted off from the St. Cloud Regional Airport at 1:55 p.m. Nine minutes later, according to emergency dispatch reports, the crew sent a may-day alert. Communication with the aircraft was lost, and local and state emergency workers converged for an intense search-and-rescue operation. A State Patrol helicopter with thermal-imaging cameras spotted the wreckage about 16 miles southwest of St. Cloud. Killed were: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charles P. Nord, 30, of Perham; Chief Warrant Officer 2 James A. Rogers Jr., 28, of Winsted; and Sgt. Kort M. Plantenberg, 28, of Avon. All were assigned to Company C, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, out of St. Cloud. They had returned in May from a nine-month deployment to the Middle East, where they conducted medical evacuations. That the men had survived a mission abroad only to die at home seemed especially heartbreaking.”

USS Minnesota (BB-22), the fifth of six Connecticut-class pre-dreadnought battleships, was the first ship of the United States Navy in honor of the 32nd state. Minnesota was armed with a main battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and a secondary battery of twenty 7 and 8 in (178 and 203 mm) guns. Shortly after she entered service, Minnesota joined the Great White Fleet for its circumnavigation of the globe in 1908–1909. The years from 1909 to 1912 were uneventful, but thereafter the ship began to become involved in conflicts in the Caribbean. She supported efforts to put down an insurrection in Cuba in 1912 and patrolled the coast of Mexico in 1913–1914 during the Mexican Revolution. In 1916, the ship was placed in reserve, though she quickly returned to service when the United States entered World War I in April 1917. During the war, she trained naval personnel; while cruising off the eastern coast of the United States in September 1918, she struck a naval mine laid by a German U-boat. The extensive damage required lengthy repairs that kept her out of service for the rest of the war. She helped to return American soldiers from Europe in 1919 before resuming her training ship duties in 1920–1921, before being decommissioned in December 1921 and broken up for scrap at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1924.

When I arrived, one of the pieces, or sides, of the mural was still undecided. I liked a WWI story I had found but as I was walking toward the rock the wording on one of the monuments caught my eye, it read SILVERSTAR. I thought it was his last name until I stopped to read his name and story. Walter Fick served and earned the Silver Star in WWII, and him and his brother were both KIA. They are from Vergas, and I thought honoring Walter, and his Armored Division service, would be a nice piece. This history was written at the end of World War II by M/Sgt. Nick O. Civarra and was published in Germany:

“Platoon moved out at 0730 April 7th with Rcn. Co. to Eurbach and reported to the 86th for orders. 1st platoon was given the mission to outpost Solstadt. Upon reaching Solstadt and looking over the situation it was decided that Lt. Fick with the 1st section would block the other end. The following morning April 8th, two Russians who were former prisoners of the Germans gave the information to Lt. Fick that three German soldiers had spent the night in some woods about 400 yds. from the platoon’s position. Lt. Fick organized a small patrol and went after them. Going into the woods the patrol saw three enemy soldiers walking away from the patrol. Lt. Fick called to them to surrender, and at this time a German soldier who was hiding in the woods on the patrol’s right flank, fired at Lt. Fick. wounding him. Lt. Fick. although seriously wounded, kept calling to the Germans in their own language to surrender, he also succeeded in killing two of them after being wounded. The enemy soldiers finally surrendered, and Pfc. Slack. after being sure that Sgt. Ferries could handle the prisoners, ran for aid. A medical man arrived immediately, and Lt. Fick was evacuated. The 1st section in the meantime took all available vehicles and men and brought the prisoners back. There were 11 prisoners. Two Germans were killed. The prisoners were taken back to Rcn. Co. That afternoon Lt. came out to the Platoon informing them that he was the new Platoon Leader. Lt. Fick had died on the way to the hospital. The men were quite upset when hearing this news. Lt. Fick was very well liked and admired, both while as an enlisted man and as an officer. His courage and leadership were of an outstanding quality.”

If you’d like to reach out about a 50 State Freedom Rock, email Maria at [email protected].

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