From the cemeteries of Oxford to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to the Normandy American Cemetery in France, they slumber in their graves by the hundreds of thousands.
Their job is done. Their mission is over. Their time in history has passed.
Yet, they are never forgotten. They live on in the hearts and memories of family and friends.
They live on in the legacy of freedom we inherited from them and enjoy today.
For this, we set aside one day in May to pay tribute to their bravery and willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Locally, community members assembled in downtown Oxford’s Centennial Park Monday, as they do every year, to celebrate Memorial Day.
Veterans and scouts, parents and children, young and old, they gathered and remembered, reflected and prayed, gave thanks and showed respect.
‘What we have as Americans we owe to these fallen warriors,? said Lee Tope, Finance Officer for Oxford American Legion Post 108, who gave the keynote address. ‘Yet each Memorial Day, many of us find ourselves engaged in the unenviable task of reminding fellow Americans why, in fact, we observe this day.?
‘We are not gathered here to celebrate the opening of public swimming pools for the summer. Nor are we here to offer thanks to our men and women currently serving in the armed forces, though a show of gratitude for them on this day is certainly well-time and appropriate.?
‘We come together to pay tribute to every single American servicemember who has died in defense of this great country,? Tope told the crowd. ‘Indeed, hundreds of thousands have given their lives over two centuries of American history, from the Civil War to Europe, from Pearl Harbor to Korea, from Vietnam to Grenada, from Kuwait to Afghanistan and Iraq.?
Referring to these noble dead, Tope quoted the words of Henry Ward Beecher, who said ‘they hover as a cloud of witnesses over this nation.?
‘Strip away everything else, and all a person truly owns is his own life,? Tope said. ‘The American serviceman, past and present, has demonstrated that his or her life is worth giving in defense of our country.?
‘As a nation, we grieve. As mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, we grieve. But the greatness of the dead should have our attention, not our tears . . . Tempting as it may be to dwell upon the sadness of their deaths, we must turn our gaze to the deep meaning found in dying for one’s country. As the dead chose to put our lives before their own, we must now give highest priority to the praising the purpose for which they gave all ? our security.?
Tope said that security takes two forms ? physical security ‘from those who wish to kill us on our own soil? and ‘ideological security, or what we call freedom.?
To secure the latter, ‘our soldiers, airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen have shed blood to prevent Nazism, fascism and other forms of tyranny from spreading to America’s shores and taking root,? Tope said.
‘Because of their hard-fought victories, we continue to enjoy the freedom to live, say and worship as we choose,? Tope said. ‘Freedom of this kind is found in precious few countries the world over.?
‘The torch has passed from one great generation of warriors to another, to another, to another, down through the years, to rest in the hands of the men and women serving in today’s War on Terror. The weapons have changed. The threat has changed. The reason American armed force’s fight, however, has not changed.?
Following Tope’s speech, the traditional wreaths were laid at the veterans? monuments in the park and beneath the flagpole.
Boy Scout Troop 366 then conducted a roll call ceremony, in which the names of local soldiers who died in battle from the Civil War to Vietnam were read aloud, while the scouts placed dog-tags around white crosses bearing the honored dead’s names and the wars they fought in.
Following the ceremony in Centennial, the traditional Memorial Day parade headed north on Washington St. and west on Burdick St. to Ridgelawn Cemetery.
At Ridgelawn, another wreath was placed beneath a flagpole, a 21-gun salute was sounded and ‘Taps? was performed.