Fort Snelling National Cemetery

No headlines marked Bernard Pepper's passing more than 50 years ago. Most people who visit the cemetery today will stroll right past his grave, without any idea of who he was or what he did for his nation. But it's the stories of soldiers like Pepper that have become a life's work for Steve Chicoine, an author and historian from Eden Prairie .

Chicoine's book, "Our Hallowed Ground," published in 2005 by the University of Minnesota Press, recounts the stories of 87 World War II veterans who are buried at the Fort Snelling cemetery. The book profiles both men and women, and members of all branches of the service.

"You don't have to go to Arlington Cemetery or Washington, D.C," says Chicoine. "We have a shrine to democracy right here." [snip] StarTribune