Minnesota Legionnaire to build an honor guard database

By Tim Engstrom
The New Prague Veterans Honor Guard presents the colors at the start of the Department of Minnesota Convention on July 9.

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Legionnaire is compiling a database of honor guards across the state in an effort to aid the general public in finding honor guards for military funerals and other ceremonies.

“We’ve decided to do this as a community-service project in light of the decline in honor guards to perform funerals,” said Editor Tim Engstrom. “Every veteran deserves military honors their burial or inurnment.”

The May 2026 issue of Legion Magazine depicted a national crisis of volunteers to help provide military funeral honors across the country. Lack of volunteers has reduced the number of honor guards, making it more difficult for relatives and funeral homes to find honor guards.

In addition, Minnesota Veterans Affairs Commissioner Brad Lindsay, at the May meeting of the Minnesota Commanders’ Task Force, asked if there was any database for honor guards.

In a room with veterans from eight different congressionally chartered veterans organization, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and the Minnesota Association of County Veterans Organizations, it became clear such a database did not exist.

“This will make a great community service project for the Legionnaire,” Engstrom said.

Anyone with an honor guard itself or perhaps its post may visit legionnaire.org and click on “Honor Guards” to enter the information. The information is compiled and will become part of an ongoing online database found at legionnaire.org.

It isn’t just about honor guards for funerals either. Some honor guards perform at other types of ceremonies, such as color guards presenting and retiring colors.

The honor or color guards in the database can be Legion, VFW, DAV, police, fire, military — anything and everything.

“We hope to provide a necessary service for the citizens of Minnesota,” Engstrom said. “And we hope this is a way to connect volunteers who wish to join honor guards.”

Readers who would rather mail in their honor guard information can send it to The Minnesota Legionnaire, 20 W. 12th St. Room 300A, St. Paul, MN 55155.

Include the following information:

  • Base city
  • Coverage area
  • Affiliation
  • Types of ceremonial duties you perform
  • Any additional info
  • Captain’s name, phone and email
  • Secondary contact’s name, phone and email
The Patriotic Heritage Honor Guard is an all-female unit out of Inver Grove Heights. Here, they provide colors for the Memorial Day observance in Woodbury.