Just a Thought: Memorial
Day Celebration
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 29th Annual Memorial Ceremony begins with a
musical prelude at 9:30 a.m. followed by ceremonies at the Edgewood Veteran’s
Stadium formerly known as the Frank Mata Stadium. The stadium is located at
1650 W. Thompson Place behind Kennedy High School. Guest Speakers include: US.
Army Colonel Pedro Lucero, Navy Petty Officer Mario Longoria and US Air Force
(Ret.) Lieutenant Colonel Nora Alpizar.
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.
As a Vietnam Veteran myself, (70-71) that
means something to me personally of those that I knew who died in combat to
include an 8th grade
classmate of mine, Miguel Najar from St. Gregory’s Catholic School in
1960. 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. I alternately attend the Edgewood ceremony one year
and Fort Sam Houston the next.
Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery will
simultaneously present their Memorial Day program at the 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. That service is well
attended and open to the public.
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 as always, I write “Just a Thought.”
Steve Walker is a Vietnam Veteran, former Judge and
Journalist
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