(upbeat music) - [John] Hello and welcome to Prairie Pulse.

You know coming up a little bit later in the show, we'll learn about the Gaelic Harp.

But before that, our guest joining us now, is Dave Rice.

Dave is the past North Dakota State VFW commander.

Dave, thanks so much for joining us.

- [Dave] Thanks for having me.

- Well, as we get started, (Dave clears throat) tell the folks a little bit about yourself and your background, maybe.

- Well, I'm really from Traill County, North Dakota, went to Mayville High School, joined the Navy right after my senior year, went on active duty when I was still 17 and spent four years active and then joined the Naval Reserve, once I got back home here.

- Okay, let's talk a little bit about why you're here.

What is Veterans Day or Armistice Day, as it was originally called?

- Originally Armistice Day, because that was the official end of the ceasefire of World War I, the war to end all wars, they said at the time, we know better now, but that was celebrated and they actually changed names to Veterans Day and actually changed dates a couple of times, but we celebrate Veterans Day on November 11th, at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month because that was when the actual ceasefire of world war I was.

- Mm-hm.

And what's the difference, often confused on social media and other things, between Veterans Day and Memorial Day?

- Good question, and also throw in Armed Forces Day in the mix.

Veterans Day is a day of celebration.

Memorial day we mourn, we mourn the loss of our brothers and sisters who have since passed away.

So Memorial Day is a very solemn day, visiting cemeteries, paying our respects to our departed.

Armed Forces Day is meant to honor our comrades in arms that are currently serving.

The men and women in the Active Duty forces or the Guard in Reserve.

And Veterans Day, more so the past military people to celebrate them.

Veterans Day is supposed to be a day of celebration, shake hands, have a parade, have a brule, have a picnic or whatever, but often those are misconstrued as all the same type of holidays but they're actually not.

- Okay.

Well, you're obviously with VFW.

(Dave clears his throat) Can you talk about the State that VFW chapters, you know, how are they organized and how are they run?

- Every State in the nation has a department of Veterans of Foreign Wars, plus there is one in Europe, and one in Asia.

So we cover the globe almost, and each department has a number of districts and posts in it.

North Dakota, we have about 50 different posts.

In North Dakota, Fargo has a post, West Fargo has a post, you know it might not, you know, pretty much sweeping the State and the Nation and the National Office helps us with our programs, we all participate in various programs, fundraisers and stuff during the year that are similar from State to State.

- Mm-hm.

So now how does the VFW differ from say, the American Legion or the AMVETS clubs?

- I suppose you know, there's pride in the one you belong to, I belong to five of them so, (Dave laughs) but very, very similar.

I think every one of them focuses on five different areas and that is supporting our troops, our current serving, supporting our veterans, supporting our youth and supporting patriotism, I guess that's four major areas and I think they all do that fairly well.

There are different membership criteria of those different organizations.

Some towns just have one organization and some have two or three, but very similar in nature.

- Yeah.

Well, can you tell the folks, and I would hope they know this, but how many branches and what are the branches of service, military service?

- Well, we celebrate them in this order, the Army, deemed the oldest or earliest established.

So army followed by a Marine Corp and then Navy then Coast Guard.

- [John] Coast Guard in Arizona.

- Yep, and now Space Force.

- [John] Now Space Force, Okay.

- I'm a Navy Air Force, I forgot the Air Force in there.

- [John] Yeah, we got this one.

- I'll crosscheck from an Air Force buddy.

(John laughing) - So anyway, we got the Army, the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force and the Coast Guard.

- [Dave] Correct.

- And are... - And the Coast Guard of course, is under the Department of Homeland Security.

- Mm-hm.

- And the rest are Department of Defense.

- [John] Okay.

- During war time, the Coast Guard transfers to Department of Defense as well.

- Yeah, a lot of people always question, "Are your establishments open to anyone coming in and being a patron there, either having a drink or getting something eat?"

- Primarily for veterans and their guests, but yes, they are open to the public and we certainly welcome them when we have our ceremonies, special events and that type of thing.

With our population I guess, it'd be tough to survive if you only let a certain group in, so we try to open our doors to are our neighbors.

- Okay.

I even heard, Matt Olean, one of our producers plays trivia... - [Dave] Yes.

- At your establishment.

- [Dave] Yep.

- What special events, you mentioned that, what special events do your chapters hold each year?

- Well, those holidays we try to celebrate.

Veterans Day we're gonna be serving stew, for example, at the Fargo VFW and the Red River Valley Veterans Concert Band, a very patriotic group of musicians, they're gonna be playing at our club at one o'clock on Veterans Day, plus they go to Moorhead and Dilworth, in West Fargo, they're all over the place, they love playing.

We celebrate or honor POW/MIA's.

We have a ceremony honoring our POW and MIAs.

And then we fill black balloons with the POW/MIA logo on it and go out and release them.

And we would like to public to come and witness that and share that solemn tribute with us.

Yeah.

And there is all kinds of different events during the year.

We try to honor our service men when they come home from deployments at the airport, welcome them home.

We have a summer picnic, we invite the community to show our appreciation for their support throughout the year.

4th of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, we have programs just throughout the year and handing out poppies, remembering our fallen around Memorial Day, so quite a few different activities.

We have a lot of different programs for our Nation's youth as well.

- Well, you mentioned fundraising, so what kind of fundraising events do you hold?

And are you raising money for Veterans or are you giving some back to the community also?

- We have a charitable gaming, a lot of institutions, veteran and non-veteran have in our community.

So we have charitable donations that we donate to, have we donators to the Fargo VA Hospital, for example.

We hold the Annual Pinewood Derby, Adult Pinewood Derby, and we have a lot of people coming in and acting a little bit like a kid again, and having a lot of fun.

We've donated what is about $80,000 I think so far to the Fargo VA Hospital, for equipment that's not normally in their budget to give them extra comfort for our patients.

Make a lot of donations to the Veterans Home in Lisbon, North Dakota, and just a host of other organizations and causes like our youth programs.

We have Patriot Pen and Voice of Democracy.

We give a small stipend to our youth that finished in the top three, for example, and that type of things.

- [John] Mm-hm.

Can you talk a little bit about current issues that are facing veterans?

- Unfortunately, probably the biggest are veteran suicide.

Their estimating about 22 veterans a day commit suicide.

They come home and they just don't feel that they fit in the community any larger, and they have a hard time functioning among other individuals that probably don't understand where they came from, and there is a big, big effort to get them help.

We have a lot of counselors and programs and toll-free numbers.

The help is out there, it's sometimes difficult to reach them or to identify, diagnose those with that tendency, with suicide is a big one.

Agent Orange is another one, there are still diseases out there that have been caused by, not only Vietnam exposure, but even our current Gulf War Veterans in the burn pit.

- [John] Mm-Hm.

- So we lobby our congressmen and the VA to support treatment of those ailments and compensation.

- Yeah, Can you tell us why many veterans do struggle when returning from service and getting back into the community?

- I am not well versed in that, I served in combat, I was on a ship, we were shot at frequently, but I don't have the horror stories of trenching through the jungle or anything like that, so I can't quite comprehend what they went through, but again it's just a, kind of a stigmatism I guess, that "I don't fit in this community" or "I don't feel comfortable with what I did", and "I'm having a hard time adjusting back into the real world."

- Well, you mentioned there is help.

Can you identify you know, is the VA Hospital working these veterans turn for some help?

- Yep, the VA itself has a Veteran Suicide, a National Veteran Suicide.

And it's not only veterans, I mean that's a global problem not unique to military veterans at all, but yes, military veterans go through the VA and anyone, I mean there's National VA, or National Suicide Prevention and Assistance Lines out there.

- Well okay.

What impact did COVID have on your various chapters across those States?

- Well, I think it's slowed everyone down.

I have a program called Flags for First Graders.

I go to every elementary school in Cass county, 37 of them.

And we have a program about Flag Education, what the flag means and that type of thing.

Well, last February, some schools were shut down, you know whatever.

So I talked to the schools and I said, " Well, we don't want to forget this years first graders, can we come back in the fall and hit them up when they're second grade?"

And they said, "Absolutely, we'd love to have you."

So yeah it did delay it a year.

Out at the National VA Cemetery for a short time, we the honor guard, which I'm gonna do this afternoon, we weren't allowed out there to pay our last respects to a few veterans but that was short-lived.

And a lot of the funeral homes were delaying funerals, so that was put on hold for a little bit, but eventually opened up and we compensated for that one when we were allowed to do it, by honoring those deceased comrades, even though their death or their funeral was two months ago, or something like that.

So our club was closed on for quite a while, so we weren't able to do have our gaming or new launches and that type of thing.

So it impacted everybody and not just veterans organizations.

- Yeah.

You mentioned the things you do and one of the things we talked about before we came on camera, you also do Honor Flights.

Can you tell me about those?

You're still doing those?

- Yes, but COVID shut that down for about a year as well.

Currently, there is no Honor Flight scheduled out in North Dakota this calendar year.

We're all hoping to do a flight in the spring.

I think Bismarck-Mandan is already scheduled one and we're looking at scheduling one out of Fargo in the spring, So we're up and running.

We have been able to do some fundraising because we have quite a waiting list of veterans wanting to go on that trip of a lifetime.

So the fundraising is continuing and we hope to get back in the air again next spring.

- An Honor Flight, who are you taking, when they go on these Honor Flights?

- High priority list has been a world war II veterans, and there's only a very few of them that haven't gone that want to go, that are able to go, terminally ill, unfortunately we have a few of those on the list, and then Korean War Veterans, and we have about 150 Korean War Veterans waiting.

And then Vietnam Veterans, and we have over 300 of them on the waiting list, so.

- Mm-hm.

And you mentioned a cemetery, but I think there's been established a National Cemetery, in North Dakota, in Fargo?

- Yep, and are dedicated last September, physically located between Harwood in West Fargo, but it's named Fargo National Cemetery.

First interment was October, 2019, and as of the end of September, one year time period, there have been already 460 interments out there, so probably more than I anticipated.

And I don't know if that's on track from the national standards or not, but a very nice cemetery, very picturesque, is located off the highway and you know, out in the country, so it's very quiet, you can hear the birds chirp out there and I think just very nicely done.

- Can you talk a bit about the opportunities for young people who might enlist in the service?

- Great opportunities, I think even better.

When I got out, I went to college on the GI bill, I wouldn't have been able to afford to go to college without it.

The GI bill has been expanded much better now, in fact even family members can use that GI bill.

So the medical benefits are as good if not better than ever, pay increases, you know a couple of 3% every year, so that's better, travel opportunities and that type of thing.

So good educational benefits, a good experience.

And I don't think anybody would regret, I sure didn't, I don't think anybody would regret a little time in a service, on Active Duty, serving their countries.

- Are Foreign Wars a thing of the past, or what do you think about that?

- I would sure hope so.

Realistically, I doubt it, but that's a good question.

What's gonna happen to the Veterans of Foreign Wars if we don't have Foreign Wars there?

(Dave laughs) Our membership criteria is really gonna dwindle, but that's probably a good thing.

- You know, when we talk about Veterans Day and, or the other days you mentioned, but what can civilians do to honor veterans on Veterans Day, or any day for that matter?

- They can participate in the events that we do have, like Veterans Day.

Hopefully next year we're gonna have a parade again downtown, come to that parade, support our veterans Honor Flight and support those various programs that we have.

Back when I got back from Vietnam, I was never treated poorly in North Dakota, but Vietnam Vets nationwide were probably not that fortunate.

But today, especially after 9/11, you know, unfortunately it took a knock in the head for us to realize the importance of the military being attacked on our own soil.

Today, the military has a lot better respect from our communities, than we have in quite a long time.

So the public is doing a fairly good job and it can continue supporting our efforts and treating our military with respect.

- You know, you mentioned that you were in the Navy, it sounded like four years active, maybe.

Can you talk more about your career in the Navy, and what it meant to you?

- I joined when I was 17, went on an active duty, did my four years and I came home to the Naval area and I started MDSU in the fall and that's when I realized that there was a Naval Reserve in the Fargo area, so I joined that and spent 37 and a half years in the Naval Reserve.

During that time I was activated to fill a military in Fargo for six months.

So four and a half active, 37 and a half reserve.

So I retired in 2011 with 42 years of service in the Navy Naval reserve.

- Well, I want to say thank you for your service now, before I forget it and we appreciate it.

But it says here you're a Past North Dakota State VFW Commander.

What does that mean?

And what does the commander do for the VFW?

- Well, you're overall responsible for the operation of that organization.

I was also a Past State Commander of the American Legion earlier in the 2012, 13 period and then 2019, 2020 for the VFW.

So again, responsible for the overall operation.

We a have good leadership in the posts in the district and department level.

So it's not a full-time job, but it's a very rewarding experience to have that position.

Every Commander, State Commander has a project and my project was supporting our VA Hospital.

In between the Legion and the VFW, I raised almost $20,000 for equipment there.

- Mm-hm.

And again, how focused are you on community, as these post are out there?

- Oh very much so, very much so.

I mean, we support whether it's motorcycle riders, generating money for various causes, the VFW supports a children's home, for families who are down on their luck and need a place to stay, we have a housing facility where they're welcome to stay just, you know, a host of different... - Yeah, so what I really wanted the people to hear is the VFW's, well now throwing American Legions in, but you all do a lot for communities, - And we thank you for that.

But if people want more information where can they go?

- Every one of those organizations have web pages, legion.org, vfw.org, amvets.org.

And of course Facebook, social media now is very rampant.

So I would guess every one of them have a Facebook page, that they can look at and it's probably kept more current than a web page but, and good old Google, you can find your local organizations that way too.

- Dave, thanks for joining us today.

- And thank you again for your service.

- Thanks for having me.

- Stay tuned for more.

(upbeat music ) Ann Heymann of Winthrop, Minnesota, is a master in the performance, history and traditions of the Gaelic Harp.

Her passion is sharing her knowledge of the instrument in workshops and masterclasses.

(soft harp music) - [Ann] Some friends gave me a publication called The Ancient Music of Ireland, and I'd read that they played with fingernails and they played the instrument on the left shoulder.

I approached the harp that I was to buy and played one string.

The sound rang out and rang out.

(soft harp music) I'm Ann Heymann, and I'm from Winthrop, Minnesota.

This is a Gaelic Harp, its image is on the back of every Irish coin and on Irish passports, and on Postman buttons.

It's the image that Guinness used, but now they've really modernized it.

Echlin O'Cathain, was an Irishman playing harp in Scotland, and he's the one who first used the term, Gaelic Harp.

There was a time when it wasn't really accepted into the church because it was considered pagan.

We know that this instrument was used to play in churches and private chapels of the big homes by 800.

To better understand it, I paid attention to Irish mythology.

It turns out the legend of the first harp is a woman that tested her husband, and she was running all over Ireland and he was chasing after her.

There was the carcass of a beached whale in the Northern part of Ireland, at the strand.

The wind blew through its bones or sinews, and the sound of it put her to sleep.

The husband saw this and he thought, "Oh, if I could please my wife like that."

And made the very first Clairseach from parts of the whale.

The profile of its skull structure looks like the harp lying on its back.

So the eye would be here and this would be the jaw down here, and this would be the bow, and this is where the mouth would open.

Then bail-in, it's like horse hair fringe off of them, and that's what strings the creel from the ocean.

There's the zoomorphic figure on the four pillar, and I believe that to be a two-headed eel representing the migration of eels because they were magical.

There were three types of music that the instrument was known to be played for, Goltrai, Geantraie and Suantrai.

and that's crying music, laughing music and sleeping music.

(soft harp music) This harp was made for me by David Kortier in Duluth, Minnesota.

It's in the form of the medieval Irish harp, that first appears in iconography circle 1000.

It has the harmonic curve in the neck, and this is a feature of instruments that are strong in metal, at the same time period in 1,000, the instruments that were strung in gutter horse hair had straight necks, and it has a bold four pillar, a robust construction, and you can even see the metal cheek bends and this means there's a lot of tension on my frame, which means I'm not the little tiny lap harp, but I have significant size and base pitches, which put more tension on the frame.

Now it is known that the harpers played with a harp on the left shoulder, and that's different from the way other harps are played.

Most harps are played on the right shoulder here, and this affords the right hand to be playing the high strings and the left-hand the base.

So it's orientated more like piano.

(Ann playing gentle harp music) Now, this is known as the Downhill Harp.

This harp is strung entirely in brass.

This is the water serpent, otherwise known as eel and Lough Neagh, in the Northern part of Ireland, is known for having course head eels, like Scotland's lock Nessie, but without as much hoopla.

(Ann playing gentle harp music) This would be a Gothic Harp.

These instruments are known to have quite a sound, they have bray pins.

The pin holds the string in.

(Ann playing harp strings) This is the copy of a harp known as the Bunworth Harp.

and it was made in 1734, for the Reverend Charles Bunworth, by John Kelly.

This is one piece Willow sound box, and it's a high-headed harp.

It's the only Irish harp that resides outside of Ireland or Scotland.

It's in Boston, at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Edward Bunting thought the right-hand being strongest, played the major melody notes in the sonorous range of the instrument, and the treble hand, provides the Symphonal parts.

The base hand plays on the beat.

And so it's.

(Ann imitating harp sound) Harp is percussion before it is a stringed instrument.

You strike the strings.

Think of how different the music would be, if piano was designed with the extreme base in the right and the extreme treble to the left, how would the music have developed differently?

When the music starts to speak to me, I can't deny it anymore.

I'm trying to bring the voice of the instrument to life.

(Ann playing gentle harp music) - Well, that's all we have this week on Prairie Pulse and as always, thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Funded by, the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008, and by the members of Prairie Public.