Honoring fallen troops

Watch "Armed Forces Salute" by The Jackson Municipal Band The soldiers and sailors who gave the full measure of sacrifice, not the joys of a day off work, were the focus Monday for groups of veterans, family members and others as they gathered to remember why Memorial Day is on the calendar.

At separate events in Jackson, Cape Girardeau and Scott City, the benefits Americans enjoy as a result of that sacrifice became the focus for several hundred residents.

And with the mounting death toll of a controversial war in mind, speakers at times sought to keep the focus for the day on soldiers, not on the politics that put them into combat.

U.S. Army Maj. Craig Gatzemeyer, keynote speaker to more than 300 people gathered at the Osage Community Centre, named the major conflicts of American history and noted that more than 1 million men and women have died in uniform during war. "Today is not a day to debate whether a war is or was justified," Gatzemeyer said.

Instead, Gatzemeyer said, Memorial Day is a day to contemplate the freedoms protected by those who sacrificed and the spirit of dedication the fallen showed to the nation.

The Rev. Sam Roethemeyer gave the keynote speech at the Jackson Memorial Day program Monday

"We must make sure the message of respect for freedom is passed along," he said. "We as a nation need to refresh our memories, and put the memorial back in Memorial Day."

In Scott City about 50 people turned out for the annual memorial service at Lightner Cemetery.

The featured speaker, the Rev. Bob Azinger of Eisleben Lutheran Church, reminded those in attendance that war is horrible, but those who have given their lives in battle must never be forgotten. The soldiers and sailors gave Americans their First Amendment rights to a free press, free speech, freedom to assemble and freedom of religion, not the journalists, poets, college protesters or clergy, he said.

"They kept alive for us the principles of freedom, for which our country stands," Azinger said of the nation's war dead. "They made us proud."

U.S. Army Major Craig Gatzemeyer gave the keynote speech at the Cape Girardeau Memorial Day program Monday.

American soldiers and sailors killed in combat are different from any others in the world, Azinger said. They don't defend ruling regimes or political parties, they defend the ideals embodied in the constitution.

A centerpiece of the program was the reading of essays from local winners of the VFW Patriot's Pen and Voice of Democracy essay contests. Lauran Schaefer, a 17-year-old from Scott City High School, read her winning Voice of Democracy essay that remembered Sept. 11 and its aftermath.

The disaster showed us that we must work for our freedoms, Schaefer said.

"Freedom is not free," she said.

Patriot's Pen winner Conley Clark, a Scott City 14-year-old, followed with his essay that took first in the district contest. Evoking former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and President John F. Kennedy to tell those assembled that "every American ... has the authority to change the United States" through action in his or her own community.

"Citizenship is the heartbeat that can change the world," he said.

Both the Jackson and Cape Girardeau events included bands playing martial music, presentation of flags by veterans -- some with backs straight under gray locks, others a bit bent but still marching -- and appreciative ovations as each service branch was recognized.

At the Jackson service, the Rev. Sam Roethemeyer, pastor of Emmanuel United Church of Christ was the featured speaker. Roethemeyer asked the audience of about 200 at the entrance of Jackson Cemetery to take a moment later in the day to think about the young men and women serving the nation. Memorial Day, he said, is a time to "pause and give thanks" and "to remember and reflect on what this day truly means."

The fallen soldiers, he said, were friends, family members, colleagues and students who gave up their lives to give others a chance to live in a free nation.

It was, he said, "a priceless gift they gave in those days so we could have our tomorrows."

And before the sacrifices of the past fade from memories to history, people who lived through World War II are being asked to share their stories. At the Osage Center, Circuit Judge William Syler and his wife, Georgann Syler, handed out fliers announcing an oral history program underway at the public broadcasting station from Southern Illinois University.

In conjunction with the broadcast of Ken Burns' latest documentary, "The War," WSIU will present "Honor and Sacrifice: The Illinois Delta Remembers World War II," a series of short radio and television stories focusing on the experiences of people in Southern Illinois and Southeast Missouri. "You don't have to have been a soldier, just someone with memories of World War II," said Georgann Syler, who is on the boar of the WSIU foundation. "It is important, in part because so many people of that generation are passing away."