Memorial Day Remarks
Note: These closings remarks of Prescott Mayor Jack D. Wilson at the Citizens Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremony in Prescott, Arizona on Monday May 26, 2008.
Thank you for this opportunity to participate on this solemn occasion.
Memorial Day to many marks the start of summer. It is a three-day weekend with many stores hawking their sales. It is a weekend of barbeques and family picnics. However, it is much more than that:
• It is a national holiday
• It is a solemn day of remembrance
• It is a day to reflect on those that have serve this country and who made the ultimate sacrifice
As an Army veteran, I always consider it an honor to participate in these ceremonies. I especially liked the ceremonies, the parades and the pomp and circumstances of the Army.
Today, I was almost brought to tears by the symbolic rider less horse ceremony. It recalled a veteran who was also our Commander in Chief, John F. Kennedy and his funeral procession.
Today, we celebrate a ceremony with deep roots. We are a nation born out of a war of independence. We then had a civil war between the Confederate and Union forces. The practice of decorating the graves of the dead began with the Confederate women. Moreover, they placed flowers on the graves of their late foes, the Union troops.
As we stand here today and look out across the headstones of those that served our country, I am not here to mourn them but to celebrate them.
Please listen to this short piece by Charles M. Province, called IT IS THE SOLDIER: It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
Even though we will leave this ceremony today and participate in the barbeques and picnics I discussed earlier, please remember the real purpose of Memorial Day when you do.
Please join me in a moment of silence to remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Please continue to make a difference with your words and actions.
