In front of a crowd of silent onlookers at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis Dec. 16, Father Jim Radde, a Jesuit priest, walked solemnly and slowly to a monument for those who have served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

He paused at the monument, whispered a prayer, then laid a wreath in front of it. Behind him stood members of the Notre Dame Club, alumni of the South Bend, Indiana, university who came that day to lay wreaths on the graves of military veterans and family members buried there. Father Radde is also a graduate of Notre Dame and serves as the chaplain of the Minnesota chapter of the Notre Dame Club, which has about 2,000 members statewide, including graduates who have served in the military. 

Father Radde himself came close to making the military a career. He was in the ROTC program at Notre Dame for the Marine Corps, and, in 1962, was thinking about signing on after college. At the same time, he was exploring the Jesuits and the possibility of a religious vocation. 

“When I was getting ready to graduate from Notre Dame, I had already approached the Jesuits and been interviewed by the Jesuits for entering the novitiate,” he recalled. “And in May (of 1962), I received notice to come sign for a Marine Corps commission (on) Tuesday at 11 o’clock. Nine o’clock that morning, I get an airmail special delivery from the Jesuits saying, ‘You are accepted in our novitiate.’ So, I came that close to signing my commission (to the Marine Corps), which would have put me, probably, in Vietnam.” 

He chose the Jesuits, but his tie with the Marine Corps became a lifelong connection that included having classmates at Notre Dame die in the Vietnam War. So, four years ago, when the Notre Dame Club learned about a nationwide wreath-laying program called Wreaths Across America, he eagerly joined other members of the club to take part in the annual December event. 

More than a dozen local Notre Dame Club members joined hundreds of others gathered at the cemetery to lay about 15,000 wreaths, which were purchased by people online for $17 apiece. The Minnesota Notre Dame Club, which has about 1,500 members in the Twin Cities, donated funds to sponsor 187 wreaths, said Mike Schnaus, who coordinates wreath laying for the club and was the catalyst for the club participating in Wreaths Across America four years ago. He said nationwide a total of about 2.9 million wreaths were laid in 4,225 locations this year, including Fort Snelling. 

According to the Wreaths Across America website, “fresh evergreens have been used as a symbol of honor and have served as a living tribute renewed annually. Wreaths Across America believes the tradition represents a living memorial that honors veterans, active-duty military, and their families.” 

Every year since 2008, Congress proclaims a Saturday in December as National Wreaths Across America Day. This year’s date was Dec. 16. 

“It’s just a very rewarding experience,” said Schnaus, 70, who belongs to Our Lady of Grace in Edina. “I have great respect for those that served in the military. My father-in-law was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. He served in the Army after World War II. And, I’ve had other members of my family — an aunt and an uncle — who served in the military in World War II. And then we have over 50 members of our Notre Dame Club who are military veterans. They are all great people … and this is just one way to honor them.” 

Some members of the club, like Lisa Schiltgen, have family members buried at Fort Snelling and went to their graves to lay wreaths after they finished doing it for Wreaths Across America. Others, like Tom Hayes of St. Odilia in Shoreview and John Cooney of St. Therese in Deephaven, also have personal reasons for coming. 

“I’m here, really, to honor my father,” Cooney said. “My father flew B-24 Liberators in the Second World War, and I come here to remember him. He’s not buried here, but it’s a good place to remember him.” 

When their job at the Fort Snelling cemetery is finished, club members take a moment to pause, reflect and look around at what they and hundreds of others have accomplished to honor those who have served their country. 

“You just kind of go, ‘Wow, this is really quite a scene,’” Schnaus said of his own reflections. “To just look through the landscape and see all the Christmas wreaths sitting on markers on the gravesites is really a neat thing.”