Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913

Memorial Day In Hinsdale

The following is a copy of a speech given by SSG AJ Etherington to the American Legion Post 45 Memorial Day Celebration in Hinsdale.

As is the case with so many who have done this before me I am overwhelmed by the daunting task of memorializing and honoring those who have given everything in service to this nation, to our way of life and to the causes of freedom, liberty and justice around the globe. I am humbled and frightened by the challenge.

So to ease in let me start with someone else’s words. President Reagan said, in his 1986 Memorial Day address that, “Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. It’s a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of America.”

We came here today to share in this tradition. Today is a day for the living as much as it is for those no longer with us. We are here not only to memorialize the fallen but to remember the reasons why they fell. To remember that had we not fought for liberty in 1775 that the world would be less free and just today. Had we not fought for unity in the mid-19th Century would America have ceased to exist and would equality be further away than it is today? If we had not stood against the advancing German and Japanese fronts would the world have fallen to evil and been overcome by hatred? Had we coward during the Cold War what would be of democracy today? And had we not sought Justice following the attacks of 9/11 what would be of our country? What would be of the world? I can’t imagine what the world would be like without any of our brave men and women’s sacrifice and that makes me eternally grateful for them and their acts.

In my view today is a day when mothers and fathers remember sons and daughters who grew up to do what was right and what was necessary. Today is a day when wives and husbands weep over fatherless and/or motherless children, and dream of a life that would have been wonderful in peace. Today is a day when children are told stories of great family heroes of great men and women who gave them their life of freedom by giving up their own. When I think of today I am overcome by great sadness. Such feelings are followed by a great sense of joy. Joy that we have remembered and we will continue to remember and honor the sacrifices of so many individuals.

Winston Churchill, following World War II, said that, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” This statement, in my opinion, sums up almost every war in our history and the history of the free world. Many will never know what was taken to conquer the Islands of the Pacific, the beaches of Normandy, to liberate Auschwitz, to fight in North Africa, to patrol the Jungles of Vietnam, or to brave IEDs and ambushes in the Deserts of Iraq or the Mountains of Afghanistan, but those who do, have asked for nothing in return. Nothing save for a desire that Liberty and Justice will remain.

Today we honor those who are gone to us, those who gave us our lives of liberty by giving up theirs. And it is truly my whole-hearted belief that we do that not by celebrating one day, but by living our lives in a manner worthy of their sacrifice. All of us here in this room came home, and some of us aren’t entirely whole, but we are blessed by the fact that we were and are looked over by our fallen brothers and sisters, and I believe that they want us not only to live, but to live life to the fullest. That all of us young, old, brother, father, sister, mother, son or daughter will live our destiny in a manner that will truly honor their sacrifice. We are bigger than one, or a few, or even a majority. We stand for so many who cannot stand for themselves and we do it not only for our own but for all of mankind. We are the United States of America because we stood for it, we fought for it, and we honor those who have fallen by continuing to stand up on their behalf. This is how I believe we will honor them and memorialize them.

AJ Etherington is the Montana National Guard Recruiting Non-Commissioned Officer for Northeastern Montana and a nine-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Reader Comments(0)