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(insert respectful potshot here)

"....one hell of a lot better than a few of the officers we had to deal with."
"....one hell of a lot better than the transportation that never showed up."
"....one hell of a lot better than a few of the FNGs."
"....one hell of a lot better than the issue boots."
"....one hell of a lot better than dud ammo."

Welcome to all India Company Marines and their families.

The Greatest Generation ( Saltier than Salt )

Marine Corps veteran Charles Lindberg finally got his recognition Saturday, 57 years after World War II ended.

Lindberg, an 82-year-old Minnesota native, was honored in Long Prairie by hundreds of well-wishers who came to see the dedication of the Veterans War Memorial on the city's Main Street. The memorial is a 40-foot-tall replica of Mount Suribachi, which Marines wrested from the Japanese during the World War II battle of Iwo Jima.

Lindberg, who now lives in Richfield and is not related to the famous aviator, was part of the first group of Marines that raised the flag atop Mount Suribachi to rally the troops.

Another group of men, the second set of Marines to raise the flag on the mountain, was immortalized in a now-famous photograph.

"This moment is something I never expected to see," Lindberg said Saturday. "It makes me feel very good."

The memorial includes a replica of the graveyard at Normandy and a tribute to women in the military.

Lindberg is the only survivor of the flag-raising groups. Sculptures of the six men were unveiled by their relatives Saturday on top of the Mount Suribachi replica as Lindberg raised the U.S. flag.

Long Prairie businessman Rodger Johnston had stressed that he wanted the memorial, which was designed by Twin Cities artist Kim Lawler, to be inclusive of all veterans. True to his word, the program featured speeches from veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, as well as presentations of the flags from all military branches.

A portion of the memorial that was unveiled depicts Dorothy Klick of Long Prairie as she looked when she was a surgical nurse during World War II. Johnston said he wanted to make sure that women who served in the military were included because "they suffered like every other combatant."

The audience was filled with veterans in their dress uniforms or with their caps and decorations.

"I thought it was tremendous," said Erling Johnson, 82, of Long Prairie, a World War II veteran. He shared the names of relatives who have participated in every war from World War II to Afghanistan.

"We're a military family, and we're proud of it," he said.

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