Area veterans honored on Memorial Day

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Communities in the area honored citizens who died in military service to maintain the freedoms all Americans enjoy at Memorial Day services held on Monday.

In Van Wert, veterans and local residents gathered at Woodland Cemetery to honor veterans who died in wars throughout the nation’s history. After the American Legion Riders and color guard began the ceremony, the audience heard a brief thank you from Mayor Jerry Mazur thanking veterans for their service, with U.S. Air Force veteran and Van Wert City Councilman Bill Marshall then speaking about the sacrifices made by veterans — and their families — to keep this country free.

Marshall quoted former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who said: “Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy, forget in time that men have died to win them.”

He also spoke about the anguish that families suffer who have lost loved ones in wartime, noting that 1.1 million Americans, men and women, have died in military service over the nation’s history, while a total of 2.8 million Americans were wounded or missing.

“These numbers should truly humble us, as they represent people – individuals — who were brothers, husbands, mothers, sisters, and friends,” Marshall noted. “These were people who were woven into the fabric of communities across this nation; they were loved, they were mourned, and they were missed.”

Marshall said he, personally, could not imagine the feelings engendered by having to send a loved one off to war.

“You watch them disappear out of your sight, knowing it might be the last time that you will see them, or hug them, tell them you love them, but this has been the stark reality for many families in this country,” he said. “So, too, have been the telegrams, the phone calls in the night, and the chaplain standing in the front door of the next of kin to tell them that their loved one has been killed.”

Marshall said the sacrifices of military veterans are largely responsible for Americans’ enjoying the freedoms they have today.

“Our way of life has been shaped and made possible by those who served, and those who were lost,” Marshall said. “We are able to be here today largely because of those who are not.”

Marshall urged those attending the ceremony to keep veterans in their thoughts, and to give back to veterans suffering physical, psychological, and emotional wounds related to their wartime service, noting that veterans groups provide a way for local residents to connect with those veterans who still suffer.

After Marshall’s speech, wreaths were laid at the foot of a veterans memorial in the cemetery, while an honor guard comprised of members of American Legion Post 178 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5803, both of Van Wert, provided a 21-gun salute to those veterans who gave their lives for America and “Taps” was played for those who died in service to the country.