Durango took a moment Monday to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while fighting for their country as dozens gathered for ceremonies in Iris Park, Greenmount Cemetery and Rotary Park.
At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Iris Park, about 125 people met to remember those from Durango and Southwest Colorado who died in all wars, but especially those who were killed during the Vietnam War.
Chris Meyer, a Vietnam Army veteran, led the ceremony, during which members of the crowd laid roses at the foot of the memorial with the names and pictures of those who died. Meyer shared remarks, reflecting on Memorial Day as not only a chance to remember those who died, but to also reinvigorate their memory for family and friends.
“It helps us see beyond the name, beyond the statistic, and put some life in our memory of them,” he said.
“This is really why Memorial Day exists,” Meyer said, after the event.
At the Veterans Memorial at Greenmount Cemetery, about 100 gathered to listen to speeches from representatives of Durango’s VFW Post 4031, American Legion Post 28 and the Knights of Columbus, and a recitation of “In Flanders Fields,” the poem written by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae during World War I. The ceremony finished with a 21-gun salute.
David Latham, commander of VFW Post 4031 spoke to those in attendance, arguing that the holiday is meant for both remembrance and fun.
“Enjoy the backyard barbecues, enjoy the day on the lake and enjoy your day off of work. But remember the reason for these things,” Latham said. “Remember those who have given the supreme sacrifice.”
Members of VFW Post 4031 and the American Legion once again gathered at Rotary Park and the Animas River to dedicate a wreath-laying to the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Navy.
Veterans led each of the ceremonies as they sought to honor those who served with them, find healing and pay homage to the history of Memorial Day.
“It’s a brotherhood that you never lose,” said Meryl Robertson, who served in the Navy during the Cold War and now acts as the adjutant for American Legion Post 28.
Willard Leight, junior vice commander and District 10 commander for the American Legion in Colorado, who served in the Navy during the Persian Gulf War, expressed a similar sentiment, saying Memorial Day is a day to think of all of those who sacrificed their lives, no matter their race or whether they were from large cities or rural communities like Durango.
“When we look back at Memorial Day, it doesn’t matter. Everybody that’s red, white and blue – Native American, Caucasian, Black, Asian – we’re all brothers under the same flag,” Leight said.
For Brian McAleer, who served in the Navy during Vietnam, Memorial Day is a solemn day, but it also offers a healing power after he buried his experience in Vietnam for many years, in part because of how many Vietnam veterans were treated after returning to the U.S.
Meyer, Robertson and Leight all shared the history of Memorial Day with its roots dating back to “Decoration Day,” which was created in 1869 as a way to honor the graves of those who died during the Civil War. The creation of modern Memorial Day, which commemorates those who died in all wars with the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971, was a meaningful one for Meyer.
“Memorial Day came about in my lifetime, before that it was Decoration Day. It is just that important,” he said.
McAleer sees Memorial Day as a way for younger generations to acquaint themselves with history and the wars American servicemen and women have fought in and died.
“A lot of these kids don’t have those connections, and so it becomes you’re just a walking history lesson. That’s what we are becoming now, and it’s a natural thing,” he said. “But hopefully somewhere along the line their parents or somebody who’s their mentor can just clue them into what these guys were all about.”
Like Latham, McAleer said Memorial Day should be a day for fun, but he also asked that those enjoying the holiday also take a moment to remember why it is a holiday.
“It’s all well and good that people go around on Memorial Day and go have picnics and barbecues and all the other things that are fun that everybody loves to do. I love to do them,” he said. “But there should be a moment at least where everything becomes very solemn and you start to think about just the realization that somebody sacrificed everything so that you can enjoy your picnic.”
For the veterans who participated in Monday’s ceremonies, Memorial Day offers a day to remember those who died. But even more so, it gives them a chance to recall the relationships and bonds that make those they lost so memorable.
“You become so close to the people around you because you’re relying on them for your survival and they're relying on you. That changes the animus of everything,” McAleer said. “People who have given it all for you and for everybody else in this country deserve attention much more than one day a year. But at least on this one day it’s put out there for everybody to recognize.”
ahannon@durangoherald.com
