This celebration of the lives and sacrifices of the service
men and women of our great nation began on May 5, 1866 in Waterloo, New
York. It was originally called
Decoration Day because those people in New York chose that day to decorate the
town with flags dipped at half-staff.
They also hung black mourning ribbons and cloth from the trees and on
the bushes throughout the town in order to celebrate and praise not only the
living Union Veterans of the Civil War but also to remember their patriotic
dead. In addition, a General by the name
of John B. Murray led a march by troops, civic societies and local residents
into the cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of those who gave their
lives during the war. This was the first
observance and parade for what we now call Memorial Day.
What a fitting honor it is all these years later to still
celebrate our veterans. So many things come and go…traditions
fade…honors are forgotten… and lessons once learned, are all-too-soon forgotten, only to be
relearned the hard way. That is why it
is such an honor to be here to participate in the celebration of the lives and
memories of our veterans.
When I was preparing for this time with you, I looked for
reasons that would bring all of us here today …for commonalities, or threads
that might weave themselves throughout these grounds.
I asked myself what it was, other than
the obvious, that all of these veterans had in common.
For instance, what was it that William Hughes, who served in the
Civil War and is buried just over there a bit would have in common with Michael Brandewie,
who not too long ago served in the Navy and is buried back there a ways just on
the other side of that road;
or what Motor Machinist Mate 2nd Class Lester Hensen,
who served in the Navy and died the year I was born would have in common with Elizabeth and
Lowell Burchett, who each served their country, one in the Coast
Guard and one in the Army, and then got
married and spent the rest of their lives together.
And I wondered what Pvt. Merrill Henson
(Lester’s brother), who served in WWI, could possibly have in common
with Cpl.
Raymond Nettleship who was killed in action in Belgium in 1918.
I know of some of the things they definitely have in common
---yet could anything be more contradictory than the lives of our soldiers?
They love America, so they spend long years in foreign lands far from her
shores. They revere freedom, so they sacrifice their own that we may be free.
They defend our right to live as individuals, yet yield their individuality in
that cause. And perhaps most paradoxically of all, they value life, and so
bravely ready themselves to die in the service of our country.
And there are probably a lot of other things. For instance, Each
of them at some point wore a uniform of
our country’s military. Each of them left the comforts
of their homes to do whatever they could, whatever it took to secure our
liberties and freedoms. Each of them had a birthday --- and each
of them had a date of death ----- and each
of them ran a dash from the beginning to
the end.
Now I’m not talking about the kind of dash an athlete would
run.
No, I’m talking about that dash -- that little… straight… line between the dates of
birth and death that you see on their grave markers. That line that represents their life’s
story, that dash that stands for
everything they did in-between. That is
another thing they all have in common…and not just among their fellow veterans,
but with everyone here today. You see,
each of us – each of them – has either completed their dash or is still working
on it.
Having worked our Veterans trips to DC for the past 4 years,
I learned that everyone has a story to tell, regardless of their walk in life
or the choices that were made along the way.
While their dash may, at first, look nondescript or even ordinary, theirs is the story of a lifetime. For good or bad, heroic or tragic, it is the heritage of a family and is woven
into the fabric of this country.
There are many buried here who wrote their story as
productive businessmen and women. Many
of their stories were written in the fields that make up a big part of our
county, raising the crops and livestock that would feed a nation. And even more stories were put together as
teachers, doctors, mothers and fathers, laborers, builders, and such. Some of the dashes were life-long in the
making, while others were cut short and all-too-incomplete. Some were brilliant, and others tragic.
But then there are those whose dash has something that makes
them stand out. Their dash is what
brings the greatest impact to this Memorial Day. Instead of a simple straight line, theirs really
should look like a tree or a streak of lightning – branching out, streaking and
burning meteorically across the skies from one date to the other. Just like the ones I mentioned earlier, they
too wrote a story of their life and tackled the building of a family, a community
and a nation ---- but with one exception – their dash burned with the same white heat of the
patriots and warriors who made this country so great…who made this land the
envy of others around the world.
Part of their dash, and the part that made them stand out
---- that made them different --- that made them the reason for this day -- was
their willingness to put on the uniform and go off to defend this country, to
secure our freedoms, and to help to establish those same ways of life in
countries far removed from their everyday lives, for people they would never
know.
These were the warriors who not only used their strength to
defeat their enemies, but were also the generous and compassionate custodians
of liberty who helped to rebuild countries, write constitutions and pave the
way toward democracy. They did not fight
to conquer the world, but rather to liberate it.
Richard Wurmbrand is a Romanian evangelist and
Christian minister who spent 14 years imprisoned in Romania for his
beliefs. But in 1967 he wrote:
“(America) is the last “dike” holding back the rampaging
floodwaters of evil. If it crumbles,
there is no other dike, no other dam, no other line of defense to fall back on.
America is the last hope of millions of enslaved
peoples. They look to it as their second
fatherland. In it lies their hopes and
prayers.”
And when our servicemen and women finished their part of this
ongoing mission, they shed their uniforms and went home to pick up the tools of
nation building ---here, in their neighborhoods, villages, and cities, and
tackled this mission with the same tenacity and courage they showed in their
military service.
For the families and friends of those who wore the uniform of
our country, emotions often fill the soul when they visit memorials, stop by
gravesites, or participate in patriotic events such as this one. As we look around on this Memorial Day, we should
not just see the final resting places of soldiers, or the names on their
markers, but we should also call to mind their dash, their life’s story.
And so, it is our purpose not only today but for years to
come to remember their excellence in humanity ----- their heroism, and their
dedication to the ideals of life and liberty for all people, and to never let
their dashes fade or be forgotten.
As we recall the names of those Veterans here today who
fought these battles, conquered their fears, and overcame injuries and the
insanity of wars, our presence adds credence to their story and validates their
dash. And we should do so not with
sadness or depression, but with joy and faith and confidence in the path they
have laid out for us and the story they have prepared.
Benjamin Harrison, who was our 23d President, and who also
happened to serve during the Civil War as a Brigadier General of the Tenth
Corps of the Army of the Cumberland once stated,
“I have never been
able to think of this day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to
feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.
I have rather felt
that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate
rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.
We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration
of what they did.”
And so, to these points,
I say today we too should REJOICE in their courage.
REJOICE
in these citizens who taught us what it really means to be an
American.
REJOICE in the hope that these veterans have
given the world for its future.
REJOICE in the eternal flame of courage and freedom that WILLIAM,
MICHAEL,
LESTER,
ELIZABETH, LOWELL,
MERRILL, RAYMOND and so
many of their brothers- and sisters-in-arms gave us as their legacy.
REJOICE in their stories…
REJOICE…. and CELEBRATE their dash...
Hooah
