Letters to the Editor June 11, 2008
June 11, 2008 - 01:00 PM
by Contributed
by Contributed
Memorial Day 2008 was a recent three-day national weekend, with memorial services available each day.
A Saturday Memorial Service rededicated Memorial Highway, in commemoration of Skagit County’s World War I fallen military, was well done: It reviewed the history behind naming Highway 536 “Memorial Highway;” a history unknown to many today. A roll call of Skagit County’s World War I fallen was read and each name tolled. Carrier pigeons were released, depicting the freedom we hold by being victorious in World War I, etc.
The rededication of Memorial Highway was due to the vision and efforts of citizen/veteran, LeRoy Anderson; aided by Master Gardeners, and the WSU Extension Facility.
A Sunday Memorial Service was held at the Trinity Anglican Church, Mount Vernon, represented as their First Annual Memorial Day Service. It was a “homey” Memorial Service, in a church setting. The Trinity Anglican Church Memorial service was open to the public, and ecumenical. Meaning it was reverent, but not “churchy.”
On Memorial Day, memorial Services were conducted at various local cemeteries by veteran organizations, (e.g. the American Legion, or the Veterans of Foreign Wars), in concert with Boy Scouts, or the Burlington-Edison High School ROTC, depending on the cemetery.
There was ample opportunity for the public to attend a Memorial Day Service over the Memorial Day weekend. The community pages of the local print media informed the public of the Memorial Day services. But, the three Memorial Day services attended, were poorly attended. Most who attended were seniors.
America’s freedom is not free. We are free only because of those who went before. And, if we do not reflect upon and honor those who establish/maintain our freedom, we could lose our cherished freedom: Freedom some “take for granted,” as a birthright.
Some need to wake up, we are in troubled times.
Roger Pederson
Mount Vernon
