 Honors Veterans Past and Present by Dick Kauffman May 28, 2003
The day of remembrance in Ketchikan began with a short march from the American Legion to Centennial Square. Dennis Spurgeon, Commander of the VFW Post #4352, led the brief ceremony at Centennial Square. After a short prayer and the placement of the wreath, memorial services were held at Bayview Cemetery at 11:00 am. Approximately 100 people attended the Memorial Day service at Bayview. The first guest speaker at the Memorial Day Service held at Bayview Cemetery was Captain McNally, Commander Integrated Support Command Ketchikan of the United States Coast Guard. Captain McNally said, " I would like to give you something to think about as we gather here in Ketchikan, Alaska in a ceremony that's being replicated today in large cities and small towns across America - to honor veterans of our Armed Forces and, most especially, those who gave their lives that this Nation might live." Speaking about valuing military service, Captain McNally said, We're at an interesting time in our history with respect to military service. We are just about 30 years away from our last draft. We rely on all-volunteer Armed Forces that are better educated, better trained and better equipped than at any time in our history. In many ways, this is a very positive development, as it brings motivated, patriotic young people into the service." McNally said there is one major drawback. "It means the percentage of citizens in our population who have experience with military service - whether it be through personal service or the service of a close family member - is dwindling," she said. Captain McNally remarked, "For this Nation to remain strong, we must attract and retain strong, committed and intelligent young people in our Armed Forces." To do so, Captain McNally said our society must demonstrate that we value military service in peacetime as well as in war. She said we must teach our children about the history of our Nation, and especially about the rich and colorful history of American military heroes and the role our military forces play in preserving our way of life. "We need to teach our children that military service is an honorable undertaking regardless of social class, educational status or gender and that the service itself merits respect in war and in peace," said Captain McNally. Continuing her remarks Captain McNally said, "Our children need to know that courage is a virtue that never goes out of style, and that a free nation requires many sacrifices at the
In her closing remarks Captain McNally said, "They [children] need to be taught that military service is an honorable undertaking, and that courage, loyalty, willingness to serve and the ability to lead are important attributes of a free society. They need to realize that service men and women come from families like theirs from their own communities, that they don't lay aside the citizen when they put on the soldier, and that their willingness to serve our country in peace and in war is what keeps us free." Following Captain McNally was Lt.Col. Donald Jim of the United States Marine Corps. Lt. Col. Jim is the Executive Officer, Joint Task Force Alaska Road. In his opening comments he said he grew up in the Marine Corps and that he is a third generation Marine. Lt. Col. Jim said his father left the Navajo reservation and retired as a MGySgt and his great uncle joined the Marine Corps and served in WWII as a Code Talker. Lt.Col. Jim quoted a passage in the Bible, Isaiah 6:8, that speaks of the call for service answered by those in the Armed Forces: "Then I heard the Lord say, "Whom shall I send?" I answered, "I will go! Send me!" He continued his remarks saying, "Today is a special day, reserved for a special class of heroes. It is a day of mixed emotions. It is a day for reflection in honor of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who made the ultimate sacrifice throughout our history. We honor these brave warriors by not forgetting them. We honor them by not taking for granted what they did for us. And because we can never let these men and women be forgotten, we reserve special days, not just this one - in their honor." To speak in memory of such men as these is not easy said Lt.Col. Jim quoting Rabbi Gittlesohn who spoke after D-Day... "It can be said with utter truth the world will little note nor long remember what we say here. It can never forget what they did here. They have done their job well."  Lt. Col. Jim is the Executive Officer, Joint Task Force Alaska Road... "We must tell our children about the people who died so they can live in the greatest country on Earth," Lt.Col. Jim said. "Each child should be told of the honor of serving. Each child must be told of the price of peace. And every child- male or female, handicapped or healthy, son of the rich, daughter of the poor - must be given the opportunity to serve this country. It is more than a privilege to do so - it is a duty and it is a price we should all pay to live here," he said. "I deeply believes when we did away with the draft, we did the youth of this nation a great disservice," Lt.Col. Jim said. He continued, "I believe everyone would appreciate this country more if they had to serve for its protection. Instead of getting rid of mandatory service, we as a nation would be better off if we demanded more participation - not less." "By serving our great nation, our youth would know the meaning of Memorial Day," Lt.Col. Jim said. "They would feel the same stirrings as I do every time I say the Pledge of Allegiance or hear the National Anthem. They would understand why their grandfather cries when he remembers World War II." He said he attended the Marine Corps Birthday Ball a number of years ago and listened to the WWII veterans speak of conflicts in the Pacific Theater. He said they spoke with such passion of the battles and of the losses they sustained. Lt.Col. Jim said, "It was a very humbling experience. We owe our youth our knowledge and our memories. We owe them the opportunity to serve." Lt.Col. Jim remarked, "There are people of the same caliber and the same character today that fill the ranks of the Armed Forces of the United States. They follow an unbroken line of good, brave and unfaltering souls that have never let this country down." "Today, we honor those who fell from the line, who left us never knowing how much they would be missed. We pray for them, and we remember them, with the love of a grateful nation," said Lt.Col. Jim. He continued, "Today, as we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, we must also remember what they fought and died for. We must thank them for our democracy, our freedom of speech, the right to disagree and to live in a country that has free elections." Jim asked, "So how do we as a nation adequately preserve the memory of these valiant men and women?" He continued by saying America has erected monuments to serve as bold reminders of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice adding, "Sadly and regrettably, we will have no shortage of sacrifices from which to select when erecting our future memorials." Jim quoted segments of General John A. Logan's Memorial Day Order, "...We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders... Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds about them with the choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor..." Jim said, perhaps the most profound tribute of all was made on the first memorial observance in May, 1868, by then - General James A. Garfield when he said, "They summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue." He said on returning to Phoenix from the Operation Desert Storm, the City of Phoenix held a Memorial Day Parade as they do every year. Lt.Col. Jim said his company was asked to march at the head of the column and he refused. Jim said, "I told them the veterans from the previous wars deserve to march first and that we would consider it an honor to march behind them. It puzzled the march coordinator, but I'm sure you understand. We followed in trace." Lt. Col. Donald Jim said, "Still, we accept our inherent duty - the protection of all people." He said it seems difficult to believe that it has been ten years since he was a company commander and led his company with the coalition forces to the success of the Persian Gulf War. Since that time, American forces have faced enemy fire in Somalia, Bosnia, the Sinai, Kosovo, in the wake of Sept. 11, Afghanistan and again in Iraq, he said. "Any foe who might challenge our national resolve would be repeating the grave errors of defeated enemies," said Jim. "But regardless of the consequences, our Armed Forces stand ready to go into harms way and protect the American people from a world that poses constant threats to peace. We must remain ever vigilant. This continued vigilance itself is an important way of honoring those whom we remember today," said Lt. Col. Jim. He said, "we learn from history, from our victories and mistakes, because we don't want to lose the precious ground paid for with the blood of those service members who decided that this nation was worth fighting for." Lt. Col. Jim said, "It is within our power to keep the memory of the fallen alive. It is our legacy to honor, it is our debt." In his closing remarks Lt. Col. Donald Jim said, "Let us depart today not with sadness for those that we honor, but with gratefulness. Because they died, so in peace may we live."  Bob Weinstein, the Mayor of the City of Ketchikan, was the next guest speaker. Mayor Weinstein said it was an honor for him to speak at the Memorial Day service. Mayor Weinstein said, "Memorial Day is a special day for all Americans - a day on which we remember and honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our Nation - and in defense of the freedoms that all of us continue to enjoy today and everyday. These heroes are gone, but they are not forgotten." He remarked that Memorial Day has been a special day ever since the first day of remembrance of fallen soldiers, called Decoration Day, was held in Arlington National Cemetery in 1868 to honor those who fell in the Civil War. Weinstein said while in Washington, DC last week he visited the Arlington National Cemetery with family members. He said they visited the Tomb Of the Unknowns, the grave of President Kennedy, and saw the final resting places of thousands of Americans - of all ranks and from every racial and ethnic group and background - who served their country with honor for so many years. He said they visited the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial and the site of the World War II Memorial which is now under construction. Mayor Weinstein said, "This was a very moving experience for us, because it brought home - in perhaps a way that nothing else can - that our country has been defended and our
He continued, "For more than 225 years our military has protected our country and preserved our freedoms. In that time, our world has changed and the faces of our enemies have changed. However, the dignity and courage of the men and women in uniform have remained the same." Weinstein said, "The country has once again turned to its young men and women who proudly wear the uniforms or our Armed Forces to protect us - men and women who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere to defend the world from terrorists and tyrants at this very hour." He continued, "We know that they are putting their lives on the line for us every day, that some of them have paid the supreme sacrifice, and that more will as the days and months go by." Mayor Weinstein said, " On this Memorial Day the thoughts of America - the country that these men and women love and serve - are turned to them and to all their fallen comrades in arms." In his closing remarks Mayor Weinstein said, "The day will never come when America forgets them, nor those who have served before them. Showing us by their courage that freedom is not free, they have made the world a better place." The final guest speaker was Roy Eckert who is the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Manager. Eckert spoke in place of Ketchikan Borough Mayor Mike Salazar who was unable to attend. Eckert paid tribute to the men and women who have served. He said this is a time to remember why they served. They pledged their lives for what the flag signifies. Eckert concluded his remarks with a poem. The haunting melody taps performed by bugler Lane Davis brought the Memorial Day service to an end. During the service, the songs - the National Anthem and the patriotic medley - were performed by the local group 'Sweet Adeline's.
Photos by Dick Kauffman ©2003
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