Remembering the sacrifices of those who served

By Randy Grider
randy@casscountynow.com

The J.E. Manning American Legion Post 258 on Monday held its annual Memorial Day service -- a two-part event that began with a flag ceremony in downtown Atlanta and culminated with an hour-long program at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center.
The flag ceremony took place at the Veterans Memorial Plaza as members of the American Legion replaced the American and MIA/POW flags.
The American flag taken down had been purchased by the late Phyllis Yarger in memory of her brother Ray Thomason. During the main program, the flag was presented to her widower David Yarger.
The event featured plenty of patriotic music provided by Atlanta Middle School seventh-grader Hannah White and Atlanta High School senior Zoe Allen. Prior to the start of the official program, artist/musician James Coleman was featured on the steel drums.
In his welcoming remarks, Post Commander Mike Lee stressed that “true sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance.”
Keynote speaker Jeff Siler, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army captain who now teaches marketing for DECA at Atlanta High School, delivered a well-received speech highlighting key moments in American history.
Siler reminded the crowd of President Abraham Lincoln’s three-minute Gettysburg Address that is the quintessential memorial dedication honoring fallen soldiers. He spoke of the huge sacrifices made by U.S. soldiers during the D-Day invasion in France.
Siler also told a personal story of hearing a Gen. Douglas McArthur speech being played over the West Point’s speakers in 1988 while he was a cadet. Siler said three words from that speech has stuck with him since, “Duty, honor and country.” He emphasized how we can put each word into action in our daily lives to make us better people.
Siler said for duty, we can “give 100 percent, to whatever we do, for honor, you should “live our lives so your are comfortable with the person you see in the mirror,” and for country, we should find something we love and do it.
The program also featured the Civil Air Patrol Color Guard from Texarkana, which retired the colors and George Luba playing “Taps.”