Ten years ago Duluth landed in the New York Times over a controversial sign in a campaign office window. Scott Cameron, a combat-wounded Vietnam War vet, made a sign tallying the dead and wounded in the Iraq war. While volunteering for Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Steve Kelley, Cameron placed the sign in the campaign office window, next to a U.S. Army recruiting office. The seven recruiters working there, six of whom had served in Iraq, found the sign disheartening and wanted it removed. Cameron said he did not wish to prevent recruits from signing up for the Army, but only wanted to honor those who made sacrifices.

One month after the New York Times story, Cameron moved the sign to Sunhillow Books. Kelly ended his campaign in June and threw his support behind the DFL-endorsed candidate Mike Hatch, who ultimately lost to Republican Tim Pawlenty. The Army recruiting office is now an escape room. Sunhillow Books closed in 2008.

Cameron turned up in the national media again in 2006, mentioned in the Oct. 2 issue of Newsweek magazine. The article focuses on how new wars can reopen old wounds for veterans, and relates the story of Dennis Kanke of Saginaw, a Vietnam veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and committed suicide in 2004.