Kyle Anderson says it all felt like 10 seconds; The time it took until he emerged from a coma three months after a bomb exploded near his convoy in Fallujah, Iraq, igniting shrapnel that shattered the Marine corporal’s helmet.

Two weeks ago, he made the short trip in his Polaris utility vehicle from his doorstep in Inver Grove Heights to the yellow ribbon cutting at Dakota County’s new Veterans Memorial Greenway.

It was only a minute’s drive away, but it was a journey that carried 20 years of intense physical therapy, daily speech therapy, multiple surgeries, and endless determination.

Dakota Territory leaders recently celebrated the construction of the first phase of the project. new Veterans Memorial GreenwayIt’s a three-part project that will eventually connect Lebanon Hills Regional Park and the Mississippi River Greenway with five miles of trails interspersed with monuments to military veterans and their families.

The first phase is the central section of the greenway, which runs 2 miles between Alameda Road and Rich Valley Park in Inver Grove Heights. A ribbon-cutting celebration was recently held at a new tunnel under 105th Street across from Rich Valley Park. The tunnel was rigged to resemble a battlefield trench, designed with extensive input from an advisory committee of local veterans and their families.

Anderson’s one-minute drive to the memorial was enough to make Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins, a man who is not often glassy-eyed, need a moment to wipe tears from his cheeks.

Atkins has known Anderson and his family since they moved next door to the former Inver Grove Heights mayor decades ago. Anderson even babysat Atkins’ children once. The longtime politician watched the kid grow into a state champion wrestler at Simley High School and then a decorated sailor. Days before his own injury, Anderson had pulled a seriously wounded soldier to safety during a firefight.

“His family moved in with us when he was a little kid. I can remember him wandering around the garden. He was moving non-stop. “You can’t slow that kid down,” Atkins said. “The Veterans Memorial was my inspiration for the Greenway. “I’m not really a sensitive guy, but especially when Kyle cut the ribbon there, it made me cry.”

After suffering a traumatic brain injury in Iraq in 2004, Anderson had to relearn what were once the easiest tasks for the then-athletic 19-year-old. Getting out of bed? He had to re-teach his body to even take a step. Are you joking with a friend? He had to re-teach his brain how to form words. Any word.

These days, Anderson, 39, wears hearing aids, speaks with a speech impediment and is still limited to the right side of his body. However, he can walk and talk on his own. Over the years, he has traveled to hospitals and nursing facilities across the country for intensive physical, mental and speech therapy. Friends say his naturally social nature never wavered.

“Never give up,” Anderson said when asked about his recovery, repeating a familiar mantra and pointing to his head. “Keep a positive mind. It’s not easy to start over. If I could do it, so could you.”

Asked how it felt to have the new monument about 500 yards from his home and to be able to cut the ribbon on the memorial with other Dakota County veterans in full view of local, state and federal officials, Anderson said he “loved it.” Before you start joking.

“Do you know the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber’?” Anderson asked and then quoted the classic Jim Carrey movie. “I liked it. I liked it very much.” he said with a sincere smile.

Rich Valley becomes Veterans Memorial

The Rich Valley Greenway had a long history going back decades, but as Atkins said, it sat on a shelf collecting dust for many years.

“This has been talked about since I was mayor of Inver Grove Heights, and that was between 1992 and 2002, so it was talked about because my hair was still black,” Atkins joked.

At a Dakota County Board meeting at least four years ago, Atkins suggested changing the name and involving the veteran community, almost as a side note during an unrelated topic. His colleagues liked the idea, and the plan began to gain traction. Dakota County is home to 22,000 veterans. largest veteran population in Minnesota.

In 2020, the county board officially approved the renaming of the Rich Valley Greenway as the Veterans Memorial Greenway.