Echoes from the distant past and tears from the painful present filled downtown Oxford’s Centennial Park on Memorial Day as the community gathered to pay tribute to those heroes who gave up all of their tomorrows for our today.
‘I would like to thank our veterans, those currently in the service and their families for the sacrifices they’ve (made) over the years to protect our freedoms,? said Oakland County Commissioner Brad Jacobsen (R-Oxford), who delivered the keynote address from the gazebo.
Jacobsen acknowledged the role Hollywood has played in educating the public about our nation’s wars in classic movies such as Patton (1970), The Fighting Seabees (1944) and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).
‘For someone who hasn’t been in the service, such as myself, that’s where we get a lot of our information,? he noted.
While some films are ‘fictionalized? to an extent and others are ‘very factual,? Jacobsen said the common thread, ‘what shows through? in all these movies, is ‘the valor? and ‘the sacrifice? of our troops.
Whether they’re fighting to ‘protect our freedoms? at home or helping to topple dictatorships overseas so ‘oppressed? peoples can enjoy the same ‘dignity we have in our country,? America’s fighting men and women never fail to make the nation proud.
For all they endure on the home front, Jacobsen paid special tribute to the families of servicemen and women.
‘The families are the ones who suffer along with the troops overseas,? he explained. ‘The absence, the hardship, the stress they go through, not only while they’re gone, but once they return.?
It was noted by American Legion Post 108 Commander Lee Tope that 3,404 U.S. troops have been killed since the war in Iraq began in 2003.
‘Over 1,000 (soldiers) have died or been killed in battle since we held this ceremony last year,? he told the crowd.