Memorial Day Speech, May 2009
Drafted by LT Sarah Blansett
I am always honored to speak on behalf of the Navy, but it is especially humbling to stand here in uniform today and speak about the many American heroes we honor on this special day.
In our country, we do a wonderful job of creating and building physical memorials. The Vietnam Wall, the WWII Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the 9/11 Memorial recently installed at the Pentagon, and our own Navy Memorial are solid symbols of the nation’s desire to physically commemorate our fallen heroes.
At these hallowed places, we can see and even trace with our fingertips the names of those in uniform who have given their lives in defense of our country.
Memorial Day is a special holiday, a single day during which we honor the spirit of all those who died in service to our nation but whom we continue to remember and honor in our hearts.
Instead of seeing a stone monument, on this special day we see the faces of all those who, over the years, sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom.
We see Petty Officer Michael Monsoor, or Lieutenant Michael Murphy, SEALS who sacrificed their lives in the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East. We see the many young men who perished with their ships in Pearl Harbor. We see the faces of Navy nurses who, through many wars and conflicts, provided care amid chaos; and we see the brave faces of those men and women who died in Vietnam and Korea -- whose sacrifices went unrecognized for years because of the unpopularity of the conflicts they found themselves in.
We also think about their families and friends, perhaps people we know, and we mark this special day by celebrating their legacy while grieving their absence in our lives.
For a long time, Memorial Day seemed at risk of becoming just another day off work.
A reason to have a picnic or barbeque.
The opening of the community pool.
Or, the beginning of summer vacation.
But in recent years a collective shift in thinking has transpired; a new awareness of the sacrifices our military members are making is emerging, becoming an ingrained part of our American experience.
I can’t put my finger on what exactly caused this shift: maybe it was the lessons learned from the Vietnam conflict, or perhaps the shared experience of seeing today’s young men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, or it could even be the many movies and TV shows that suddenly have shed new light on the real sacrifices our service members make.
Regardless of the reason, something has changed about the way Americans now think of their heroes, and that shift transcends politics, cultural differences, and religion.
President Kennedy once said “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”
Of course today we equally honor service men and women, but the sentiment remains crystal clear. A key component of our nation’s greatness lies in our ability to honor, appreciate, and cherish, through our actions and our memories, all those who died to ensure our freedom.
We often hear that freedom has a price and that each generation pays its due. Today is our day to say thank you to those who for generations have foot the bill; to those who have paid so dearly—with their lives. And to their families and friends whose lives are forever changed and to whom we owe an enormous debt.
Gathering together on this day is one way to show our appreciation and gratitude. But how do we extend the reverence we feel today through the other days of the year?
And more importantly, how do we instill and deepen the tradition of this special day for the coming generations of Americans? How do we ensure that Memorial Day continues to be observed with profound reverence regardless of whether or not we are a nation at war?
Let me make a few suggestions.
First, we must teach others about the sacrifices that have been made on our behalf so that we might continue to enjoy the liberties and freedoms granted in our Constitution.
We must help future generations understand that, politics aside, the act of committing yourself to your country and being willing to fight for the freedom of others is among the most noble of endeavors.
We can do this by volunteering to help those veterans who are still with us, by assisting a family who is grieving the loss of a service member, by visiting those injured in service to the nation to help them build a new life.
Second, each of us must find ways to ensure the legacy of our heroes endures in what has become a “sound-bite” culture. These dedicated men and women are worth more than that – more than a 20-second sound-bite. Their history deserves telling and re-telling. Find a way in your life – at work or home, at church or a youth group meeting, wherever – to keep their memories alive. Honor their sacrifices, tell their stories, cherish their memories.
And finally, continue to gather together on this special day each year to pay homage to each of them. Make this day an annual reminder of the need to give of yourself in honor of those who have given everything.
Treat Memorial Day with reverence and respect and others will follow your lead.
Our Navy is one of the world’s greatest powers. We also are one of the world’s greatest instruments of peace and humanitarian assistance. Our more than 200-hundred-year history is one of service, pride, and heroism. We serve today in Iraq and Afghanistan; we defend our world’s waterways from piracy, and we provide food, medicine, and comfort when natural disasters strike.
Our Navy executes the same mission whether or not we are at war. We provide protection, deterrence, and assistance -- whenever and wherever needed. And in the course of that duty, we have lost many of our fellow shipmates through the years.
Among those we honor today are our shipmates, shipmates gone but never forgotten. And we assume the unspoken duty to remind our friends, family, neighbors, children, and fellow service members about their actions and their sacrifices. We happily embrace the responsibility of promoting service to one’s country and we do it all in their names.
All of the good we do in the world today is because of the legacy given to us by those who gave their lives in service. Their sacrifices helped make this Navy the great power it is today and with every action undertaken, every conflict resolved, and every life improved by the United States Navy; we pay tribute to these heroes.
Thank you for being here today to help celebrate the lives and legacies of those we have lost, lost but never forgotten and always, always revered.
===============================================================
From the May, 1893 issue of "Confederate Veteran," the Origin of Memorial Day
It is a matter of history that Mrs. Chas. J. Williams, of Columbus, Ga., instituted the custom of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers, a custom which has been adopted throughout the United States. Mrs. Williams was the daughter of Maj. John Howard, of Milledgeville, Ga. She married Maj. C. J. Williams on his return from the Mexican War. As colonel of the First Georgia Regulars, of the Army in Virginia, he contracted disease, from which he died in 1862, and was buried in Columbus, Ga.
Mrs. Williams and her daughter visited his grave every day, and often comforted themselves by wreathing it with flowers. While the mother sat abstractly thinking of the loved and lost one, the little one would pluck the weeds from the unmarked soldiers' graves near her father's and cover them with flowers, calling them her soldiers' graves.
After a short time while the dear little girl was summoned by the angels to join her father. The sorely bereaved mother then took charge of these unknown graves for the child's sake, and as she cared for them thought of the thousands of patriot graves throughout the South, far away from home and kindred, and in this way the plan was suggested to her of setting apart one day in each year, that love might pay tribute to valor throughout the Southern States. In March, 1868, she addressed a communication to the Columbus Times, an extract of which I give:
"We beg the assistance of the press and the ladies throughout the South to aid us in the effort to set apart a certain day to be observed from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, and to be handed down through time as a religious custom of the South, to wreathe the graves of our martyred dead with flowers, and we propose the 26th day of April as the day."
She then wrote to the Soldiers' Aid Societies in every Southern State, and they readily responded and reorganized under the name of Memorial Associations. She lived long enough to see her plan adopted all over the South, and in 1868 throughout the United States. Mrs. Williams died April 15, 1874, and was buried with military honors. On each returning Memorial Day the Columbus military march around her grave, and each deposits a floral offering.
The Legislature of Georgia, in 1874, set apart the 26th day of April as a legal holiday in obedience to her request.
by Oliver Reeves
How many springs have gone since they
Who wore the uniform of gray
Last looked upon summer snow of dogwood, blooming below
Their southern skies and friendly sun,
Or watched the winding rivers run
Or knew when spring wind's gentle hand
Stretched forth to heal their wounded land.
They sleep where the azaleas spread
Their glorious colors, where the red old hills
And mountain peaks
Stand listening while nature speaks.
And from the woodlands sound the strains
Of memories; where coastal plains
Run down to join the ceaseless tide
Ebbing and flowing as they died.
Let us remember them as time
And tide move on in endless rhyme.
When spring is wearing her bouquet
For the lost legions of the gray.
While bud and blossom, hill and tree
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=757&display_order=3&mini_id=1079
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Side note >
Blandford Cemetery
In 1866, Blandford Cemetery was the site of Decoration Day ceremony. While visiting the cemetery, the wife of Union GeneralJohn A. Logan was present and spied Miss Nora Fontaine Davidson, a schoolteacher, and her pupils putting flowers and tiny Confederate flags on the soldiers' graves. Shortly afterward General Logan issued a proclamation calling for the observance of Memorial Day. Locals say that Decoration Day served as the inspiration for the federal Memorial Day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Memorial Day 2016 I want to add a little known (except to the military community) ceremony.
There are several variations, but this is from the
National League of POW / MIA Families
Missing Man Table and Honors Ceremony
MISSING MAN TABLE & HONORS CEREMONY
As you entered the room, you may have noticed a special table; it is reserved to honor our
missing men.
Set for six, the empty chairs represent Americans who were or are missing from each of the
services – Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard – and civilians, all with us
in spirit.
Some here were very young, or not yet born, when the Vietnam War began; however, all
Americans should never forget the brave men and women who answered our nation’s call
and served the cause of freedom in a special way.
Let me explain the meaning of this table, and then join me for a moment of silent prayer.
The table is round – to show our everlasting concern.
The cloth is white – symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call to serve.
The single red rose reminds us of the lives of these Americans….and their loved ones and
friends who keep the faith, while seeking answers.
The yellow ribbon symbolizes our continued uncertainty, hope for their return and
determination to account for them.
A slice of lemon reminds us of their bitter fate, captured and missing in a foreign land.
A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears of our missing and their families - who long for answers
after decades of uncertainty.
The lighted candle reflects our hope for their return – alive or dead.
The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain us and those lost from our
country, founded as one nation under God.
The glass is inverted – to symbolize their inability to share a toast.
The chairs are empty – they are missing…………….. (moment of silence)
Let us now raise our water glasses in a toast to honor America’s POW/MIAs, to the success
of our efforts to account for them, and to the safety of all now serving our nation!
===================================================================
Missing Man Table Ceremony - Ann M. Wolf
"Missing Man Table Ceremony" POW/MIA - Ann M. Wolf
=====================================================================
POW / MIA MISSING MAN TABLE CEREMONY.wmv
Music "POW 369" by Darryl Worle
=================================================================
======================================================================
A Portsmouth tradition since 1884. Annually, the Memorial Day Parade salutes the service and sacrifices of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and celebrates Portsmouth’s proud military heritage. This year’s parade will include floats, marching band units, armed forces units, lots of excitement and much more.
