Memorial Day: Remembering those who paid the highest price for freedom
A member of the 123rd Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard in Louisville waits for the start of the Memorial Day observance Monday at the Bardstown Cemetery. Click to enlarge.
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Monday, May 28, 2012, 3:30 p.m. — Nelson County residents gathered at several sites Monday to honor the sacrifices of those who gave their lives in service of their country.
American Legion Post 121 and 167 again combined their efforts for the annual Memorial Day observance at the Bardstown Cemetery gazebo.
Kenny Fogle, special events coordinator for Post 121, who served as master of ceremonies for the event.
The event drew about 150 people to the cemetery, which sought the shade of its old hardwood trees to escape the sun’s rising rays. Some of those in attendance were veterans, while others were families of veterans of wars past and current. Old friends shook hands and renewed acquaintances while others asked about those who would not be attending this year.
Following an invocation by Rick Loader, pastor of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Bardstown and a welcome message from Mayor Bill Sheckles, Fogle introduced guest speaker Sen. Jimmy Higdon of Lebanon.
Higdon recalled the history of Memorial Day – first called Decoration Day – and called the day “a sacred day.”
“We shall always remember that freedom is not free,” he said. “Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance.”
A visitor holds an American flag while listening to a speaker at Monday’s Memorial Day observance.
Too often, the sacrifice of men and women who died in combat are taken for granted, he said. “Those freedoms are paid for by the actions of others. That’s something we can never forget.”
By honoring our dead, we preserve the memory of their sacrifices, he said. Higdon said we should remember the sacrifices of all soldiers, from the Revolutionary War to the sacrifices of today’s men and women, including the “Sons of Bardstown” who died in Vietnam and Sgt. Patrick R. Carroll who died last year in Afghanistan.
Higdon called on the crowd to join him for a moment of silence, after which he called on the crowd to remember also living veterans and soldiers who are currently serving our country, and read a portion of the 1914 poem “For The Fallen,” by Laurence Binyon:
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them."
Post commanders Greg “Spoony” Rogers, left, and Pete Trzop salute after laying a wreath at the base of the flag at the Memorial Day observance Monday at the Bardstown Cemetery.
Jim Guest and Roland Williams, chaplains of Post 121 and 167 respectively, read the roll of members from each post who had died in the last year, and the post commanders Pete Trzop and Greg “Spoony” Rogers placed a wreath to honor the veterans as “Taps” was played.
Russ Marlowe, post 167 service officer, read the American Legion’s national Memorial Day message, and handed out red roses to the widows of veterans and female members of their families.
The Rev. David Carr, a newly ordained priest who is associate pastor at the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, closed the observance with a prayer. Carr is an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran and was ordained Saturday in Louisville.
Memorial Day is a day to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, he told the crowd. “May the memory of our dead be continued by our living, who will not let their sacrifice be in vain,” he said.
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