War and Conflict | Page 9

Robert A. Smith

Robert A. Smith. Photograph by Charles A. Zimmerman, 1884.

Officers of Acker Post No. 21, Minnesota Grand Army of the Republic

Officers of Acker Post No. 21, Minnesota Grand Army of the Republic, 1873.

Massacre of Whitestone Hill

Illustration of the Massacre (also called a battle) of Whitestone Hill published in Harper's Weekly on October 31, 1863. Public domain.

Around midnight on July 10, 1970, four teams of two or three people each broke into Selective Service offices in Little Falls, Alexandria, Winona, and Wabasha, intending to destroy as many military draft files as possible—acts of protest against the war in Vietnam. They mostly failed. Eight of them were arrested and charged with federal crimes. They became known as the Minnesota Eight.

Members of the Minnesota Eight march in a Vietnam War protest

Members of the Minnesota Eight march in a Vietnam War protest, ca. 1970. Used with the permission of Cheryl Walsh Bellville.

Seven of the Minnesota Eight

Seven of the Minnesota Eight, ca. 1970. Front row (from left): Chuck Turchick, Mike Therriault (with book), Brad Beneke (head turned), and Don Olson. Back row (from left): Pete Simmons, Bill Tilton and Frank Kroncke. Missing: Cliff Ulen. Used with the permission of Cheryl Walsh Bellville.

How War and Conflict Have Shaped the State

At Home and Abroad: Minnesota at War

While it was being fought, World War I (1914–1918) was dubbed “the war to end all wars.” Yet within the span of a single generation came World War II, a far bigger and bloodier conflict. Is war an inevitable consequence of our imperfect human condition? We may never know, but this is certain: more often than not, in Minnesota as in the rest of the United States, the tides of history have been driven by war or its threat, shaping who we are as a nation and a people.

“Protest Day 4 of the RNC" flyer

A flyer advertising a rally held on September 4, 2008, at the Minnesota State Capitol and sponsored by the Anti-War Committee. The rally took place during the 2008 Republican National Convention, held in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center, at a time of elevated conflict in Iraq.