Toufong Lor, former US Navy officer and founder of the nonprofit American Veterans Memorial Park announced on Tuesday that the organization has scheduled a Grand Opening event at noon, on Sunday, May 14th, to commemorate the completion of phase one of this 95-acre project just south of Cannon Falls. The land will eventually be developed into one of the largest Veterans Memorial Parks in the United States. According to a press release, May 14th is not only a day to celebrate the opening of American Veterans Memorial Park, but it is also Hmong American Day in Minnesota. This state holiday, which began in 2019, commemorates the anniversary of May 14, 1975, when Long Cheng, a U.S. Hmong airbase in Laos fell during the Laotian Civil War, and many Hmong refugees and their families immigrated to the U.S. Today more than 80,000 Hmong Americans live in Minnesota. The Twin Cities is home to the largest concentration of Hmong people in the U.S.
