I’m sure we all remember our parents rousting us out of bed early on Memorial Day to decorate family graves. For many of us this was the first Monday after school got out and the last thing we wanted to do was get up before sunrise!
The process was simple — get dressed, load the tools in the car, and pick up some donuts for the trip. Once at the cemetery, we trimmed the grass, pulled weeds, washed off the headstones and placed flowers on the graves. While working on the graves, mom and dad would share the family lineage with us.
Although decorating soldiers graves with flowers and flags is an ancient custom that dates back to the Civil War, it wasn’t until later in life that I comprehended the significance of remembering and honoring those who died while serving in the armed forces of this great country.
Our staff is honored to serve as the keepers of the South Dakota “Fallen Heroes Banners Exhibit,” and as such I can’t help but share the sentiment of a poem from Ken Carrolan that appears on the wall in the Tomb Guard quarters at Arlington National Cemetery. It reads, “You are guarding the world’s most precious gifts, you, you alone are the symbol of 200 million people who wish to show their gratitude and you will march through the rain, the snow, and the heat to prove it.”
With pride and gratitude let us pause on this Memorial Day to remember great and brave Americans — to recognize their valor and rejoice in the blessings their bravery has secured. We know nothing of their individual thoughts and feelings as they met their fate. But we know they died for a cause greater than self.
They paid the ultimate price for freedom, and it is our duty to keep their legacy fresh in the memories of future generations.
Oliver Wendell Holmes called this “our most sacred holiday,” and he urged that “we not ponder with sad thoughts the passing of our heroes, but to rather ponder their legacy – the life they made possible for us by their commitment and their pain.”
Please, don’t forget to honor those who served and paid the ultimate price.
Larry Zimmerman, Secretary
South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs
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