SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 29, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Utahns, including Governor Gary Herbert, gathered at Fort Douglas Museum on Monday morning for a Memorial Day march.
The march stopped at Fort Douglas Cemetery, where the governor and others spoke about the importance of service, both to our country and within our communities.
“I hope as we have the beginnings of summer, the family fun and barbecues and all that goes with that, which is not a bad thing, let’s take time and pause and remember the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who have given the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of us as an American people providing the liberty which we enjoy today,” Herbert, who served six years in the Army National Guard, told media gathered at the event.
“We ought to be touched, we ought to be moved, and we ought to use this, hopefully, as motivation to be better in our own lives to serve this country that we love so much.
“We haven’t forgotten and we won’t.”
Herbert also gave a speech from the podium. “It’s a national holiday for us to remember the approximately 1.2 million soldiers who have died in the service of their country in providing freedom for all of us,” he said. “I hope that, in fact, on this Memorial Day we are re-engaged, are more motivated than ever before to go out and do our part. We may not be wearing the uniform, we may not be called upon to lay down our lives, but we ought to live our lives so as to never forget.”
Col. Michael Mesner (retired) said he spent almost three years in Vietnam, Panama and Iraq. He spoke to Gephardt Daily about why he feels the event is particularly important.
“The Association of the United States Army is the army’s voice in Washington,” Mesner said. “The Utah chapter has taken on the responsibility to put this annual Memorial Day event on for the last several years. So that’s what we’re doing here; honoring all those that have fallen, our fallen brethren, and we will have probably something to the order of 250 to 300 people.
“The first event is a march from the Fort Douglas Museum over here to the cemetery. The cemetery was established here in Fort Douglas in 1862, and all the people there are veterans with the exception of there are also POWs from World War II from Japan and Germany and Italy. There are a few of those that died in captivity and are buried here.”
He said the importance of recognizing fallen soldiers, including soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, is to remember the sacrifice they made. “So we could be here on this beautiful day saying anything we want, doing anything we want,” Mesner said. “One of the significances of this day is to help remind people of that. We have here today the Girl Scouts, we have the Boy Scouts, who will be marching over here with us, and it helps spread the word, that there’s a certain dignity and reverence that should be honoring our flag, our country and the people who’ve fought for it. The importance of Memorial Day is honoring those who have fought and died, as opposed to Veterans Day that honors everyone that’s serving or has served. Memorial Day is remembrance. It’s honoring the people who gave their lives from the beginning, in all wars.”
Col. Penelope Cook, United States Army, served 12 years of active duty and then joined the Army Reserve and was in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2006 to 2007 in Kuwait. She said Memorial Day was first established in 1868.
“It’s a very important day for everyone to remember our fallen soldiers,” Cook said. “They do a wonderful ceremony at Arlington Cemetery outside Washington D.C., and they do Memorial Day services at many of the cemeteries throughout the nation to honor our soldiers. Every soldier nowadays has actually volunteered to go and serve our nation, support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, wherever they may go. And know that it is a possibility that we might die doing that to protect everyone in the United States.”
Joshua Thompson and his wife, brought their two toddler daughters because Thompson’s mother served in the Air Force, and his grandpa served in World War II. “We feel it’s important to teach our children about,” he said. “It’s part of their heritage, but also we feel very strongly about the values of service and sacrifice, and we feel like there’s no better way to talk about that than to talk about those who are serving our country.”
The ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps. A wreath was also laid at the entrance to the cemetery.
