ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - County Highway 3 in rural Stearns County is usually pretty quiet, but you can hear buzz of onlookers that are taking notice of a special tribute by a local family.
Marine Lance Corporal Andrew Schreiner is deployed to Afghanistan. His home on just outside of St. Joseph has the obligatory yellow ribbons, the flag, but his family wanted to support their Marine with a little more flair.
So, they gave the horse barn a makeover by painting, "We love you, Andrew" on its side to say thank you to Andrew and to every single other service member who stood or will stand in harm's way for freedom.
"We want to extend it to people who have family in the military, deployed or not it's just there for you," Schreiner's girlfriend Sara VanHeel said of the barn wall.
Over the last month, the area has become a place where people stop and write their own messages to service men and women on it. They do it with a pen the family has left nearby.
Since they painted the barn, strangers from as far as Nebraska have made a pit stop to sign the wall.
"Trucks drive by and beep, motorcycles drive by and they salute," Russ Stanger said.
And with each new signature every stranger adding an autograph VanHeel thinks of Andrew.
"It's hard to be like, not knowing what he is doing or where he is at exactly or when he is coming home," VanHeel said.
It's not politics. It's not rhetoric. It's just a simple little note that sits on a simple lot of property. Home to a family whose son chose to serve because he simply believes it is his duty.
"It warms my heart every time I drive up here, people really do care about him," VanHeel said.
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