Minnesota is the home to several military attractions throughout the state. Check out the following destinations to learn more!

Veterans on the Lake

For over half a century, Minnesota Legionnaires have been supporting the outdoors program on Fall Lake in the Superior National Forest near Ely to help veterans and families through difficult transitions. (www.veteransonthelakeresort.org);

Minnesota Military Museum

The museum outside Camp Ripley near Little Falls offers an array of indoor and outdoor exhibits, including a WWI “40 and 8” boxcar, weapons, equipment, uniforms, memoirs and oral histories. (www.mnmilitarymuseum.org);

The USS Ward Gun

USS Ward, crewed by St. Paul Naval Reservists, fired the first shot of WWII for America, sinking an enemy sub at Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1942. The gun is west of the state Veterans Service Building in Minneapolis, home of Minnesota American Legion department headquarters;

The SPAM Museum

Hormel Foods opened the new SPAM Museum in downtown Austin in 2016 to showcase the ways in which the iconic canned meat has fed millions of military personnel and citizens worldwide and is enjoyed today. Jay Hormel, son of Hormel Foods Founder, George Hormel, was a WWI veteran and active member of the American Legion.