MEMORIAL DAY 2006
This is the speech I will be giving at my little town's Memorial Day gathering. I thought I'd share it with my On line buddies.
Good Morning.
When American Legion Commander, Walter Anderson first approached me to speak to you this Memorial Day…my first thought was to decline his invitation.
I told him I was not a veteran…and I didn’t think I would have the experience needed to mark this solemn occasion. But the more I thought about this great honor…the more I thought about the Veterans in my own family.
My brother served in Vietnam, My father and father-in law served in World War Two and my Great Grandfather fought in the Civil War... his uncle served in the Revolutionary war.
While these men were fighting here and in distance lands, their wives served the family…the war effort…their churches and their communities.
Each felt a dedication to their duties. All shared the universal feelings associated with battle. Fear, Sadness, loneliness…a sense of loss for what might have been and a feeling of hope for what might yet be.
Many of you are veterans… or have a loved one who served… or who is NOW SERVING IN THE MILITARY.
Some of you mourn the loss of a son…daughter…brother….sister or a parent who didn’t return from war. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you today…as you remember them.
We gather here today to honor them and many others who sacrificed so much for our community.
Every freedom we enjoy… is the result of their sacrifices.
The motto of “The Old Guard,” at Arlington National Cemetery…is”A SOLDIER IS NOT DEAD… UNTIL HE IS FORGOTTEN.”
I never met my great grandfather, Ebenezer Lee. But I do know his Civil War record with the First Wisconsin Calvary and the battles he participated in. He was one of the boys of ’61…the first to volunteer for the Union.
Many of you treasure similar history of your own veterans.
History is one of my greatest loves. It gives us a perspective of who we are … and if we are a good student…it can give us a glimpse of who we might become.
When I was a kid…Memorial Day was a really big deal. There were parades, speeches, Picnics and visits to the local cemetery…where we placed flowers on the graves…and walked among the rows of tiny American flags adorning the graves of fallen heroes.
Many of our fathers served in World War Two and the message of This important day was passed down to us in their own words.
Despite several wars and military operations since…A recent Gallop poll indicates just 28 percent of Americans know what Memorial Day signifies.
Today…it seems the focus has become gas prices, traffic reports and a day at the beach.
While these things are important---they cannot hold a candle to this day.
By gathering here this morning we honor the memories of our loved ones and the history…of our great nation.
One of the very first Memorial Days or Decoration Days… was held on May 5, 1866, when the small town of Waterloo, New York, organized an entire day of remembrance for its sons who died in the Civil War.
The idea caught on, and exactly two years later, the Grand Army of the Republic…the organization of Union Army veterans, designating May 30, 1868, "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country."
Many might argue the first observance came five years earlier in Pennsylvania.
In November, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln and other dignitaries and hundreds of citizens gathered to dedicate a cemetery at Gettysburg.
The first to speak that morning was nationally known orator, the Honorable Edward Everett…of Massachusetts.
President Lincoln’s brief remarks that day were to be a closing for the main address.
Mr. Everett spoke for over two hours.
The president’s address lasted a little over two minutes.
His Gettysburg address became famous almost at once…but at the time of the delivery…the audience responded with a smattering of polite applause.
Imagine what might have been going thru the president’s mind after his address:
DID I make a point? Did I honor the men who gave the ultimate sacrifice? How will this day…this war…and this time in History be remembered?
Many of us here today were asked to memorize Lincoln’s address in middle school.
I was…and I did for the most part. I can still remember the first two paragraphs by heart.
I hate to admit it…but that third and last paragraph was mighty long and I just couldn’t master it.
As I read the Gettysburg Address last night…I realized that the last part continues to be the hardest part for me and many other Americans. To this day it remains a difficult assignment to master.
Here are the words Lincoln… spoke 153 years ago.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought so nobly advanced.
It is for us to be here… dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead…. we take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion;
…that we here highly resolve… that these dead shall not have died in vain;
…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
Today---as you set out for a day off from work… to enjoy the freedoms our veterans fought and died for…consider pausing for one minute at 3 p.m. as part of our nation’s moment of silence. Think of them and their sacrifices.
Thank you!
