HOT PURSUIT

It’s heartbreaking for area residents to mourn the death of Owatonna veteran Michael Pierce. He died last week just shy of his 77^th birthday.

I saw it in the eyes of an Owatonna businesswoman when it was announced at last week’s Business After Hours that Pierce was near death. This businesswoman became teary-eyed knowing Pierce would not be around very much longer.

The legacy and impact of Pierce will be felt for many years to come, and I believe no one will match the commitment and determination that man had in getting things done.

Pierce certainly had his fingerprints on many things throughout the community, but perhaps none greater than the Owatonna veterans memorial, which is currently being constructed near the Steele County History Center.

My first interaction with Pierce came a couple years ago when I interviewed him about his involvement with the memorial. He has been working on the memorial for the past eight years. Though there have been many roadblocks during that time, it’s finally coming together. And it’s because of Michael Pierce.

When it came to the memorial, Pierce wasn’t seeking the limelight, but rather he was involved for all the right reasons.

“To honor the veterans. To me that’s what it’s all about,” he told me back in 2021.

Pierce is one of those veterans. He served in Vietnam from 1966-67 when he was shot at, but never in a position to return fire.

“I was always in the right place at the right time,” he recalled.

While he survived gunfire, Pierce wasn’t as lucky physically. In 2018, he was diagnosed with Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide and defoliant chemical used by the U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover and crops for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. The U.S. program sprayed more than 20 million gallons of various herbicides over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from 1961 to 1971.

Agent Orange, which contained the deadly chemical dioxin, was the most commonly used herbicide. It was later proven to cause serious health issues, including cancer, birth defects, rashes and severe psychological and neurological problems.

During my 2021 interview with him, Pierce recalled Agent Orange being sprayed to kill the grass so the enemy couldn’t hide in it. Like other soldiers serving their country at the time, Pierce had no worries about Agent Orange. “You’re over there to do a job and that’s what you did,” he said.

Shortly after coming to Owatonna in 1974, Pierce became entrenched in veteran activities. He served on the Honor Guard until he was forced to give it up after losing his right leg and being confined to a wheelchair.

Pierce may have been restrained physically, but it didn’t keep him from charging forward. He channeled his energy and talent toward projects that mattered for the benefit of the greater community.  

Sadly, as the businesswoman who became emotional even before his death shared with me, Pierce will not see the end result of his years of hard work on the memorial. This community owes a deep debt of gratitude for the work Pierce has done on behalf of all veterans.

Our world would be such a better place if we had more Michael Pierces amongst us. It hurts all of us when we lose veterans like Pierce who’ve gone in hot pursuit of making the sacrifices they have so we can enjoy better living.