Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Veterans Day thanks & reflections from southern Minnesota November 9, 2026

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 4:05 PM
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The Rice County, Minnesota, Veterans’ Memorial in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

THIS STORY IS DEDICATED to my dad and to all veterans who have served this country whether by choice or by draft.

Thank you for serving. Those words seem insufficient on November 11, a day which honors our nation’s veterans. But they are what I have—words.

My father, Elvern Kletscher, left, with two of his soldier-buddies in Korea. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo from Elvern Kletscher’s collection)

War is hell. My dad as much as stated that in letters sent from the mountains of Korea where he fought as a frontline infantryman during the Korean War. He called that country a “hell hole,” bringing home a patch with this message: “Returned from Hell, Korea 1952-1953.” I’ve never doubted Dad’s assessment of his war-time military service.

My dad brought this 7-inch by 9-inch cloth “RETURNED FROM HELL” patch home with him after serving for nearly a year in Korea. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

To see your best buddy blown up before you, to suffer shrapnel wounds at the hands of an enemy sniper, to endure cold and hunger, and to see Korean orphans begging for food scraps across barbed wire fencing forever changed my father.

How could he not be changed? Nothing could have prepared this young Minnesota farmer for war, for shoot or be shot. This was not war from afar. This was a seeing the whites of the enemies’ eyes up close and personal war.

Symbols of peace and freedom center the Rice County Veterans’ Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

There is no glory in war. No joy in the taking of lives. No victory other than that of one nation (or several nations) claiming victory in defense of freedom or land or for some other reason.

My dad suffered because of his war experiences. Just like many before him, after him and yet to come. Anxiety. Depression. Alcoholism. Post traumatic stress disorder. All came to be for him during a time when soldiers were not warmly welcomed home, but rather dismissal as having served in “The Forgotten War.”

Honoring fallen soldiers with a special monument at the Rice County Veterans’ Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

He never forgot, though.

This Veterans Day as I remember Dad, gone 23 years already, I think of all the men and women who have served whether in war or not, but mostly in war. I think, too, of their loved ones back home who supported, and continue to support, them. I think of those wounded, those who died in battle, those held as war prisoners, those still missing in action. I think of those who returned home safely, only to take their own lives via suicide.

I took this photo of a photo included in the Vietnam Memorial Wall traveling exhibit when it came to Faribault several years ago. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

War is hell.

If only we could settle our differences with diplomacy, by discussion, by compromise (if possible), by understanding that killing seems to solve nothing long-term.

I often think that modern-day warfare—with targets on a screen, the click of a mouse, the push of a button—has distanced us from the truth of outcome. Maybe I’m wrong in that assessment, never having served in the military.

This photo, among my dad’s military photos, is simply labeled “front line.” That would be “front line” as in Korea, where my soldier father fought. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo from the collection of Elvern Kletscher)

But I do understand, as the daughter of a Korean War veteran, the ravages of war upon the human psyche. The damage wrought may be acknowledged and treated. Or not. But trauma cannot be unseen, actions undone, death reversed.

To every single veteran who has struggled upon returning home from war, I am sorry. You deserve our respect, our help, our compassion and understanding well beyond just words of gratitude.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

I saw the Northern Lights! November 11, 2025

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 11:32 PM
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The Northern Lights, photographed northeast of Faribault near Cannon City (with a treeline in the foreground) around 9 p.m. Tuesday, November 11. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo November 2025)

IT TOOK A LIFE TIME, but I finally saw the Northern Lights for the first time. Ever. And they were poetic, artistic, inspiring, incredible, wondrous, glorious…all the adjectives you can use to describe a dark night sky colored with streaks of green, red and pink.

Randy and I were sitting comfortably in the warmth of our southern Minnesota home Tuesday evening when our son texted that he could see the Northern Lights even in the city lights of Boston. A photo proved it. Then the daughter who lives 35 minutes to the north of us texted that they, too, could see the lights in Lakeville, south of the Twin Cities. Photos proved it.

We popped up, grabbed our coats and set out to see for ourselves. We didn’t have to drive far into the countryside before we noticed the first streaks of light. Turning onto a gravel road, we parked, stepped outside and turned our eyes heavenward. Then we eventually tried to figure out how to photograph the majestic scene above us on our smartphones, with only minimal success.

While I would have loved some spectacular images, what matters most is that I saw, with my own eyes, that which I’ve wanted to see my entire life. Others were doing the same. We counted about a dozen vehicles parked along rural roads, the occupants gazing skyward.

This imprinted upon me how something like the Northern Lights can bring people outdoors, appreciating this beautiful natural world that surrounds us and, which on this November evening, put on a spectacular light show.

TELL ME: Have you seen the Northern Lights? When and where? How would you describe them?

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Experiencing Veterans Day in Faribault November 12, 2023

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:28 PM
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The Honor Guard and Color Guard in place for the Veterans Day ceremony in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

IT WAS, FOR MANY, an emotional day. A day of remembering, grieving, honoring, respecting. Veterans Day held all of those for me and many others who gathered in my community to honor those who have served our country in the military. That includes my father, a U.S. Army combat soldier in the Korean War.

A crowd gathers Saturday morning for a short Veterans Day program outside the Rice County courthouse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

This emotion-filled day began for me on the eleventh hour on the eleventh day in the eleventh month at the Rice County Veterans Memorial fronting the courthouse along busy Fourth Street in Faribault. In history, all those elevens mark the signing of the armistice between the Allies of World War I and Germany. The cease fire occurred at 11 a.m on November 11, 1918.

A member of the Honor Guard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

The only firing on this November 11 in Faribault was that of the Honor Guard shooting blanks from rifles.

A sizeable crowd gathers at the Rice County Veterans’ Memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

Upon my arrival at the courthouse lawn, I noticed first veterans, the American and other flags, the crowd and the red. Red coats. Red roses. Red symbolizes patriotism, sacrifice and bloodshed. And red in a rose symbolizes love.

Among the 23 pairs of boots honoring a veteran who committed suicide. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

Those red roses were lovingly placed aside blue carnations in 23 boots representing the 23 American veterans who daily commit suicide. Local organizers of Operation: 23 to Zero, an organization that raises awareness about vet-related issues, including suicide and PTSD, set up the display and stood watch for 23 hours in honor of those who took their lives. Cole, Damian, Joel, Brandon, Nicole…

Operation: 23 to Zero display on the memorial plaza. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

Those boots circled the central monument focus of eagle and dove. Individual slabs of stone for each military branch edge that circle with fitting inscriptions like THIS WE DEFEND. A sign propped against one of the stones offered encouragement, a strong message of hope, and it touched me deeply: “If you are looking for a sign NOT to kill yourself today—This is it. You are loved. You do belong. You are worthy.”

Steve Bonde plays taps, hauntingly mournful. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

Although I knew none of the service men and women who died by suicide, I felt sadness and grief filling my thoughts. I could sense the collective grief, the somberness. This small circle of 23 boots on the veterans plaza seemed a sacred space.

Faribault firefighters were among those in attendance. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

In the deafening noise of traffic from the nearby busy street and the mostly too low amplification system, I struggled to hear any of the speakers. So I focused instead on observing. I was pleased to see a cross-section of ages from children in parents’ arms to teens to young adults to middle age to aged. The presence of young people, especially, pleases me, for they, too, need to understand the meaning and importance of Veterans Day.

Among the hundreds of pavers surrounding the memorial. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

In the all of the gathering at the veterans memorial in Faribault, I felt not only deep emotions, but also pride in country and a unity that is not often seen these days. On this single day, this November 11, we came together to honor our veterans, despite our personal political viewpoints.

Memorable bumper sticker. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2023)

A bumper sticker I noticed on a Vietnam veteran’s vehicle summarizes well the intent, the goal of those who have served abroad in war. “We went over there so you could be here.” It’s a seemingly simple phrase, yet profound in depth.

FYI: Please check back for more photos of the Operation: 23 to Zero display and a post about more Veterans Day events I attended in Faribault. It was a full day.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling