BEMIDJI 鈥� Patriotic tunes rang through the air on Monday morning as more than a hundred members of the community gathered at Greenwood Cemetery for a Memorial Day ceremony to honor those who have given their lives in the service of their country.
After the presentation of the colors by members of the Honor Guard and junior ROTC, Ralph Gracie American Legion Post No. 14 Commander Steve Jewett led attendees in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Past Commander Joe Vene then sang 鈥淭he Star-Spangled Banner鈥� before a POW flag was posted in honor of the many prisoners of war and those unaccounted for in all wars and conflicts involving the United States.
鈥淭his is a reminder for all of us to spare no effort to secure the release of any American prisoners from captivity,鈥� Jewett said, 鈥渁nd the reparation of the remains of those who died bravely in defense of liberty and a full accounting of those missing. Let us rededicate ourselves to this vital endeavor.鈥�
After an opening prayer from Chaplain Ken Glidden, Jewett introduced the guest speaker, Father Bill DeCrens who is a U.S. Army veteran and pastor at St. Philip鈥檚 Catholic Church.
DeCrens spoke about the many other members of his family that have also served in the military, including his father who was a forward observer in World War II in Okinawa, Japan.
He explained how a few years ago his father decided to write a book about his experiences during the war so they would be documented for his family and others to read and to save a bit of history.
DeCrens then read an excerpt of the book 鈥� a letter written by his father dated Aug. 6, 1945, that detailed his experiences and thoughts about heading back to the U.S. while in Japan.
The excerpt concluded with these final words: 鈥淧lease keep peace on the front burner, but please, please, don鈥檛 forget those veterans who have given you peace with honor and liberty. We vets of World War II are now all old, we don鈥檛 need any monuments. Monuments, medals and battle stars never did mean much to us. But the buddies we left behind 鈥� those crippled vets, those hungry vets, those vets in need of any kind of help and those that experienced what we did 鈥� mean everything to us.鈥�
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DeCrens noted how in the letter his father explained the feelings of loss and hardship experienced by those involved in war.
鈥淵eah, things have to happen in a war to keep the peace, but in the end, peace is what we have and peace is what we need to hang on to,鈥� DeCrens said. 鈥淧eace is what makes it all worth it. So we can live here in this country in peace, and not have to send our sons and daughters to war again.鈥�
He left the crowd with one final challenging thought before wrapping up: to never forget the sacrifices of those who go before you.
鈥淭oday it鈥檚 good that we gather, we need to learn from the past, we need to remember what happened, to remember what when on in those times, we also need to remember to thank the United States for standing behind us,鈥� DeCrens left off. 鈥淪o let鈥檚 keep on searching for freedom and searching for peace, and keeping that peace in our world today.鈥�
Jewett returned to the mic and read off a list of Ralph Gracie members who have died in the last year, followed by Auxiliary members Annette Glidden and Kathy Ramos reading a list of those from Beltrami County who fought in World War II.
After the rifle salute, Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 trumpet players Riley Winer and Ryan Maki played 鈥淭aps,鈥� which was followed by Joe Vene singing 鈥淎merica the Beautiful.鈥�
To round out the initial portion of the program, Chaplin Glidden said a closing prayer.
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鈥淔ather, we thank you for this land you鈥檝e given us, we thank you for the sacrifice that鈥檚 been made to establish this freedom in our country and for the preservation of that liberty that has succeeded all these years,鈥� Glidden prayed. 鈥淕ive each one of us a heart to do our due diligence in preserving that liberty to pass on to future generations.鈥�
Before wrapping up the service, everyone moved to the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial to honor those who died during the Civil War with a rifle salute, reading of the Gettysburg Address and playing of 鈥淭aps.鈥�
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