EDINA
COMMUNITY GUIDE 2025
Honoring veterans of the past, present, future
14 | EDINA COMMUNITY GUIDE | 2025
Edina has a rich and proud legacy of patriotic service, which is recognized and honored today with the Edina Veterans Memorial. Located in Utley Park, the six-foot carving of stone and metal stands as a tribute to the men and women who have served, are now serving or who will serve their country.
The memorial, etched with the words,“ Lest we forget,” remembers those who donned the uniforms of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines.
The accounts of the city’ s 33 service members who died during a time of war are told in the 2015 book,“ Edina Veterans Memorial: A Lasting Tribute.” Written by Marshall Schwartz, this companion reader is available at the Edina Historical Society and Edina libraries and schools.
Schwartz notes the memorial finds an apt home in Edina, with nearly one in seven of the city’ s residents having served in the military – more than one percentage point higher than the national average – according to numbers from the 2010 U. S. Census.
Edina’ s legacy of military service extends to the Civil War era, including proto-Edinans who lived in what is now Edina before it was officially incorporated,“ A Lasting Tribute” adds.
In honoring these founders and service members who fought in the First World War, Second World War, Korean War and Vietnam War, the Edina Veterans Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day in 2015 at the intersection of West 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue.
The product of five years of planning, the memorial features a bronze bald eagle perched atop a slab of granite and a trifold American flag. Beneath the bronze eagle and engraved in the granite are 35 names of people who died serving during wartime since Edina’ s founding.
Schwartz’ s book catalogs those honored by the memorial, starting with World War I, when Elmer Sherman died in France’ s Argonne Forest. Sherman is the only known Edina resident to perish in“ The Great War.” World War II brought the deaths of 25 Edina residents. Three from Edina perished during the Korean War, and four died during the Vietnam War.
The Edina Veterans Memorial was built as a collaboration between the city’ s parks and recreation department and Edina resident Mike Goergen, with the backing of the Edina City Council.
The memorial, as Schwartz notes, carries different meanings from person to person. It evokes emotional memories for some and is a unifying symbol of pride for others. But for all, it’ s“ a visual reminder that freedom is not free.”
Edina Veterans Memorial West 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue