by Steve Walker
Tomorrow we celebrate Memorial Day. As we all know it is
a US federal holiday for the men and women who died while serving in the United
States Armed Forces and are remembered for their service to our county.
For those who are unaware, the holiday, formerly known as
Decoration Day, is celebrated every year on the final Monday of May. It originated
after the American Civil War commemorated the Union and Confederate soldiers who
died in the Civil War.
By the 20th century, Memorial Day was extended to honor
all Americans who have died while in the military service.
Here in San Antonio better known as "Military City" residents
go all out to honor our country’s local deceased war heroes, survivors and those
who continue to serve in the military all over the world.
The Edgewood ISD and the Edgewood High School Class of 1967 will
co-host one of the largest Memorial Day ceremonies in San Antonio. The 27th
Annual Memorial Ceremony begins with a musical prelude at 9:30 a.m. followed by
a 10 a.m. salute at the newly named Edgewood Veteran’s Stadium formerly known
as the Frank Mata Stadium. The stadium is located at 1650 W. Thompson Place
behind Kennedy High School.
The Edgewood Class of 1967 has the dubious distinction of losing
more graduates as casualties in the Viet Nam War than any other high school in
the San Antonio Metroplex. San Antonio has a long history of patriotic young
men and women of all colors and ethnic backgrounds willing to serve the best
interests of our nation in a time of war or peace.
Also at 9:30 a.m. Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery will also
present their Memorial Day program at the new assembly area on the cemetery’s
east side. That ceremony hosts Congressmen, VIPs, student choirs, ROTC members,
active duty personnel, family members who have lost loved ones to war and many
others commemorating our fallen heroes. The service is well attended and open
to the public.
The United States Air Force Band of the West will also present
Gateway Brass, an ensemble of musicians who have years of experience performing
throughout the southwest region from 1-2 p.m. at the San Antonio Botanical Garden,
555 Funston Place.
Historically on Memorial Day, the flag of the United
States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to
the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. The flag is then
raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.
The half-staff position remembers the more than one
million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At
noon, their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their
sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for
liberty and justice for all.
Never forgetting our fallen heroes we are reminded by the
words of the National Anthem.
“O say can you see by the dawn's
early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose
broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we
watched, were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
And as always, I write “Just a Thought.”
Steve Walker is a Vietnam Veteran, former Journalist and Justice
of the Peace.
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