May 29, 2024
By: Katherine Trowbridge
photo by: FCG Staff
American Legion members lead the Memorial Day Ceremony at Mt. View Cemetery with the reading of names from the Memorial Wall as guests look on (above).
There are mixed sentiments on how to celebrate Memorial Day. For many it is “the official start to summer” with camping trips and outdoor activities. Others see it as solemn, sacred as we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, our freedoms.
In a way, both are right. We should celebrate freedom and live life to the fullest with those we love in honor of the sacrifice they made and the lives they can not live. But at the same time, we should never forget the sacrifices that allow us these freedoms. We should teach our children and we should always pause, whatever we are doing to take a moment to remember.
Members of the Jesse L. Colley American Legion Post #195 joined the Cemetery District #1 and guests at Mountain View Cemetery in Connell to take a moment to pause and remember. As is tradition, the flag was at half staff and raised to full height at noon as the ceremony began. Then, Chad Egbert read the proclamation and Memorial Roll. Taps were played, but no gun salute was held in honor of these lives. The Legion is dwindling as older Veterans are no longer able to participate.
photo by: Emily Loeber
A beautiful and unique sky broke out as the ceremony concluded and guests gather near the memorial wall (above).
Nationwide, people are asked to pause at 3pm on Memorial Day to remember.
In the early morning hours, President Joe Biden spoke at Arlington Cemetery, as wreaths were placed at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
President Biden stated, “On this day we come together again to reflect, to remember, and above all, to recommit to the future they fought for, a future grounded in freedom, democracy, opportunity, and equality. Not just for some, but for all.”
The President spoke of the Greatest Generation, those who fought in Korea and Vietnam, and that first fallen soldier who was placed at Arlington 160 years ago. He spoke of grief and loss that families and friends face each day as those soldiers are no longer with them. He shared, “Today, we join that grief with gratitude; gratitude to our fallen heroes, gratitude to the families left behind, and gratitude to the brave souls who continue to uphold the flame of liberty all across our country and around the world. Because of them, all of them, that we can stand here today. We will never forget that…”
Let us never forget that too… while we live and love and enjoy the freedoms so precious to us - let us do it because that is what they died for- our right to live in freedom.
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