PIERRE, S.D. ? A celebration to honor WWII veterans with a memorial was not planned to be, but became a bittersweet event. Nobody could have predicted the events of Sept. 11, but many people who came said they did because of a national commitment to a renewed pride in America and to grieve for the loss of life at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

It has been estimated that between 25,000 and 40,000 people came to this capital city to pay tribute to the many men and women who fought and died to protect freedom in the United States.

A surprising number of veterans and their spouses or widows, more than 5,000, gathered to receive recognition that long eluded them. The renewed patriotism was partly to blame for the veterans’ teary eyes, but most said it was the fact they were recognized for what they did in Europe, Asia, Africa and the South Pacific.

For a survivor of the Bataan Death March, Donroy Shangreaux of Pine Ridge, the day of celebration and remembering ? and the memorial ? were ‘very important to me.’ Shangreaux spent three and one-half years in a Prisoner of War camp. He is one of the 68,000 men and women who served in the armed forces from South Dakota.

‘Thank you to this generation that grew up in the Great Depression. Thank you to this generation that went off to war, fighting someplace else so they would never have to fight here,’ Gov. Bill Jankow said.

In the light of the week’s events, Janklow said the terrorists did not have the courage to confront the United States military but they made a big mistake. They unified the United States, he said.

‘I live in freedom because you paid the price. You paid the price with years and years out of your life. Some of you paid it with your sons and your daughters. But you paid for it. And it’s the job of my generation and those who follow to continue making the payments.’

Throughout the ceremony, before the larger than life statues of six life-like military figures representing all of the services was unveiled, the crowd responded with applause and visible tears as orchestrated events unfolded.

The state of South Dakota’s American Indian veterans can boast they represent the highest per capita enlistment in the military of any other group in the state. In fact, most statistics prove that to be true throughout the United States.

The ceremony honoring the WWII veterans was distinctly low in numbers of American Indian WWII veterans. People said many are infirm and many had few resources that would allow them to attend the weekend celebration.

‘Today all of us in America stand tall on your shoulders. The memorial we dedicate today should remind us of the potential that lives within every one of us. That potential can literally change fate and challenge the world,’ said Maj. Gen. Philip G. Killey, adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard.

He referred to the American flag as the soul of America and said it should be cherished. The terrorist attack on America has the affect of renewing that patriotism, he said.

‘What we don’t know, we don’t cherish. What we don’t cherish, we don’t defend. What we don’t defend, we lose,’ Killey said.

The event required 40 marching bands, 68,000 balloons ? one for each South Dakotan who served in WWII ? a fly-over of modern fighter planes and a daytime fireworks display. Music of the WWII era and a special recording of Kate Smith singing ‘God Bless America’ evoked heavy emotion and most people held small flags over their heads in patriotic gestures.

A two-hour parade of military vehicles and marching units with the marching bands and veterans organizations wound its way through town as the thousands attending the event in the rain cheered, applauded and waved flags.

The memorial contains a mall with an eternal flame and names of the 2,200 men and women who lost their lives in WWII are etched into a wall.

Gov. Janklow was the driving force behind creation of the memorial. He said he was motivated to do something to honor WWII veterans after he discovered there was no such memorial.

‘No one of you ever went looking for greatness, but you all found it. You found it and you gave it to us as a legacy,’ Janklow said.

‘You wrote the book on courage, and we’re going to learn it from you, every single one of us.’