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Today, we are thinking of the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Some of us have had the great, good fortune to have known the returning soldiers. We honor them and their service. Many soldiers gave their lives so that others could be free. We remember them. We are grateful to them all.

To learn about the D-Day Medal of Honor winners: https://mohmuseum.org/medal-of-honor-recipients-from-d-day/

To learn about the Normandy American Cemetery:
https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/normandy-american-cemetery

To view the Continental Edition of “The Stars and Stripes” announcing that it will begin publishing from France:
https://www.army.mil/e2/downloads/rv7/d-day/continental_edition_4_july_1944.pdf

Photograph of American assault troops moving onto Omaha Beach, on the northern coast of France on June 6, 1944, during the Allied invasion of the Normandy coast. Photograph courtesy of the Associated Press

Captain Michael Hoy was born in Kings County, Ireland in 1834. He came to the United States in 1850 and arrived in St. Anthony in 1855. He was a stone-cutter by trade.

In September of 1862, Captain Hoy enlisted in Company K of the Tenth Minnesota Voluntary Infantry. He was elected Second Lieutenant of his company and served with distinction. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Nashville and was awarded the rank of Captain for his gallantry on the field. After he recovered from his wounds, Captain Hoy returned home to St. Anthony on April 13, 1865 where he remained for the rest of his days.

In the spring of 1867, the name of Michael Hoy first appears in connection with the Police Department of St. Anthony in the role of City Marshal. In addition to fulfilling the duties of City Marshal, Captain Hoy was also a patrol officer on both night and day watch, and he was frequently called upon to act as Deputy Sheriff and Deputy U.S. Marshal. He also acted as City Jailer at the small, stone two-room St. Anthony Jail located on Central Avenue between Fifth and Sixth Streets. He earned a salary of two dollars per day.

In 1873, Captain Hoy served as Chief of Police along with R.W. Hanson for the period of one year.

In addition to his work in the police department, Captain Hoy was one of the city’s first volunteer firefighters. He served as Foreman of the Minnesota Engine Company in the St. Anthony Fire Department. During his career, he also served as the Supervisor of Streets.

Captain Hoy was married to Miss Catherine Quealy, a native of Clair County, Ireland, on October 24, 1860. Together they had twelve children.

Captain Hoy died on March 20, 1895. He is buried at St. Anthony Cemetery at 2729 Central Avenue Northeast, Block 51 Lot 4. Mrs. Catherine Hoy lived until 1926. She is buried by his side at St. Anthony Cemetery.

On May 6, 2008, the Minneapolis 911 Center was awarded the 911 Outstanding Call Center Award, a national award presented by the E9-1-1 Institute in Washington, D.C. The Minneapolis 911 Center was honored for its work during the collapse of the I-35W Bridge.

The Minneapolis 911 Center was a key part of the emergency response to the bridge collapse. During the first two hours after the collapse, the center received 505 emergency calls, including 51 from the scene of the bridge collapse. Although this was three times the normal call volume, the 911 Center was able to communicate seamlessly with emergency organizations from the City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, responding with remarkable speed and professionalism.

When the bridge collapsed at 6 p.m. on Aug. 1, 2007, there were 13 operators and dispatchers on duty in the 911 Center. Following the collapse, many off-duty employees came back to work to help.

As the emergency response unfolded at the bridge scene, the 911 center helped process 113,000 radio transmissions on the regional 800 MHz trunked radio system that connected emergency responders. Even though there were tens of thousands of transmissions, only one high-priority transmission received a busy signal in the first six hours of the incident.

Here is an article from the Minneapolis Star from June 2, 1966 describing a test of radios and scooters that the Department had initiated. Of special note, the article mentions that the Department already had two portable radios in use, both of which had been built by officers.

REMEMBERING OFFICER MARWIN A WICKLUND

Appointed – February 18, 1943
End of Watch – June 6, 1945

Officer Marwin A. Wicklund joined the Minneapolis Police Department on February 18, 1943. Because he was married with three children, and because being a police officer was considered a vital occupation, Officer Wicklund was unsuccessful in his first three attempts to enlist to fight in WWII. On August 1, 1944, he was finally accepted by the Marines.

Officer Wicklund was assigned to Company H, Third Battalion, 29th Marines, 6th Division. He took part in the invasion of Okinawa. In action against Japanese forces on June 6, 1945, he was killed by a sniper. Officer Wicklund was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, Victory Medal World War II and a Presidential Unit Citation with ribbon and star for “extraordinary heroism in action.”

Officer Wicklund was 30 years old at the time of his death. He lived at 3923 Upton Avenue North in Minneapolis with his wife, Mina, and their children. He was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl.

Officer Wicklund was the only member of the Minneapolis Police Department ever to be killed while on military duty.

From our collection, here is the handwritten oath of Dan A. Day from 1868.

He was Minneapolis Police Chief in 1868 for one year and then again in 1870 for one year.

In addition to his duties as Police Chief, in 1868 Chief Day was also First Assistant of the Minneapolis Fire Company which was a volunteer organization.

From our collection, here is the bond of Officer Alonso E Cleary signed on April 20, 1872.

Note that the city name of St. Anthony has been crossed out and replaced with the city name of Minneapolis.

St. Anthony was the name of Minneapolis’s older twin city, across from downtown Minneapolis on the Mississippi River’s East Bank.

Minneapolis and St. Anthony merged in 1872 and, in the stationery used for Officer Cleary’s bond, you can see evidence of the transition underway.

Does anyone from the old Sixth Precinct remember learning how to use these teleprinters? Did the use of the teleprinters spread beyond the Sixth Precinct?

Article originally appeared in the Minneapolis StarTribune on March 2, 1972

This photograph of Officer Alex B. Rising originally appeared in the Minneapolis StarTribune in April of 1948.

Officer Rising is shown depositing the first free ticket into the prize box at Samsted’s Gift Shop at 3011-27th Avenue South. Looking on is Neal Samsted, the owner of the shop.

Officer Rising was hoping to win the 1948 Deluxe Ford Sedan or any of the other valuable prizes that were being given away by the Minnehaha-Lake Businessman’s Association.

The drawing was held held at 9:00 pm on April 22, 1948. We do not know if Officer Rising won a prize but we sure hope that he did.

Photograph originally appeared in the Minneapolis StarTribune

This is a 1937 photograph of Andrew Crummy, investigator for the Hennepin County Attorney and former Minneapolis Police Detective.

In 1906, then Detective Crummy worked many long hours on the investigation of the mass murder case known as the ‘Macedonian Massacre.”

The number of Macedonians stabbed and beaten to death in a two-story house on Tenth Avenue South in Minneapolis varied between 6 and 15, according to different records and witnesses. Reports of the amount of money found on the bodies also varied.

The motive for the crime was never discovered but it was believed that it was neither love nor money. There were rumors – popular although unproven – that the murders were committed by Turkish agents seeking revenge for the war between Bulgarian and Greek bands within Ottoman Macedonia in 1904. 

In 1937, when this photograph was taken, the case had not yet been solved. Today, the case is barely known and seldom discussed.

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library