News

Solemn gathering honors ultimate sacrifice

  • Published
  • By Debbie Aragon
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  A small group of patriots gathered at the base cemetery May 31 for Offutt's annual Memorial Day commemoration to honor those who have died while serving in our nation's military.

About 100 people experienced the sights and sounds of the remembrance from key words from Vice Adm. Carl V. Mauney to a wreath laying, a weapons salute and the playing of taps - all in honor of America's men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

"Today, we - like millions of Americans across our nation and around the world - pause to honor and pay our respects to the men and women who, by serving in our armed forces in time of war and in time of peace, secure the freedom that all Americans enjoy," said Admiral Mauney, deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command.

The world continues to be an uncertain place, Admiral Mauney explained with "its tensions, failing nations and ideologies spawning those who are or someday might challenge our freedom.

"As a result of this uncertainty, American young men and women continue to defend our freedom, indeed as their predecessors have so nobly done for more than 200 years. They are in deserts and mountains and jungles hunting the enemies of freedom and working to build a life for the people in those faraway lands so they can maintain their own security. They are patrolling our sky here at home; they are sailing on and beneath the seas, away from their friends and loved ones providing a visible sign of commitment to protecting us from those who might consider threatening us in the future.

"They and their families are sacrificing because they volunteered to serve their nation and we, through our elected officials, asked them to go," the admiral said.

America's veterans of yesterday began and matured the tradition of service and sacrifice, Admiral Mauney noted, and the veterans of today carry on that tradition.

As he walked among the rows of headstones in the Offutt Cemetery earlier, the admiral said he was surprised by the fallen laid to rest there and encouraged those gathered to take a moment to look at the white markers.

"You'll find Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines - ranking from private to colonel. You'll find references to bronze star medals and purple hearts in conflicts ranging from the Spanish American War to Vietnam. You'll find sons, daughters and spouses."

The admiral then spoke of Evan H. Davis whose headstone tells the story of his service: a veteran of both the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force who served in three wars, he was awarded the bronze star for heroic or meritorious achievement in military operations against an armed enemy and a purple heart for being wounded in combat.

"One thing I've learned over my 35 years of service," the admiral said, "is that in our military, folks like Evan Davis are the rule of service and sacrifice - not the exception."

World War II veteran retired Chief Petty Officer James Joyner served with the U.S. Coast Guard for 22 years and is now a resident of Bellevue. The 85-year-old veteran attended Offutt's Memorial Day event for the first time but said each year he honors the sacrifices of our nation's fallen by placing flags on graves, attending parades or attending ceremonies.

"I pray that young people today recognize the hardships of yesterday's wars and appreciate what those that went ahead of them sacrificed," Chief Joyner said. "And I pray that we never, never, never have eyeball-to-eyeball, hand-to-hand combat again like we did in past wars.

"You can't express all the things that we didn't have, that we fought for, that we do have today ... (future generations) should fight to keep it," he said.

During his address, Admiral Mauney also noted the faces of young people in the audience.

"It's important not only for us to remember our fallen - to respect their service and devotion to duty - but it is important to share that remembrance with our youth," he said.

"We have a responsibility to ensure that the purpose for which they fought is never forgotten, that the value we place on our freedom is taken up by the next generation and continued."

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Chris Rogers, a member of the USSTRATCOM commander's action group, his wife, Jo, and sons Colton and Caden, were among those gathered for the Memorial Day event. He and his family were in attendance, he said, because of his belief in the need for all generations to understand sacrifice to our nation.

"Having served in a unit in combat that lost Soldiers, it's important for them to understand the sacrifice that our men and women today and in the past have made for our freedoms," the colonel said.