Veterans remembered and honored

RITZVILLE – Many U.S. flags fluttered in a breeze while Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11446 Commander Jeff Kissler and sole Color Guard Marine Corps Veteran Bo Gingrich greeted a nice-size crowd in the Ritzville Cemetery for the late-morning Memorial Day Ceremony Monday, May 31.

In his brief address, Kissler reminded us of the veterans who gave up their lives fighting for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness we enjoy today.

"They were ordinary human beings, just like us. But what they accomplished was extraordinary," Kissler said. "They answered the call to duty, thereby giving us today, tomorrow and all the tomorrows of our future."

Kissler took us back to the colonists, who "fought for freedom right where they lived.

"Their homes were burned, their cattle slaughtered, their crops destroyed, and their families killed. The war they fought was very close, very personal, giving them immediate clarity of purpose," Kissler said. "In recent, more complex conflicts, our men and women fight in unfamiliar countries thousands of miles away. Although the surroundings and the language may be foreign, we are drawn to the troubled spots around the world by the same desire to protect our cherished freedom and to foster freedom's dream for others."

Kissler pointed out for those who grieve over the lost, the sorrow never dies, and is carried with the mourner constantly.

"But if we remember them only in sorrow, we do them a disservice," Kissler said. "They gave us the rare opportunity to live in freedom, and we must make good use of that opportunity. 'Honoring the dead by helping the living' has always been the goal of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the VFW Auxiliary."

Kissler said that goal was fulfilled by VFW programs, as well as going before Congress and each administration to submit the needs of America's veterans and their families.

"As we do so, we repeatedly ensure that those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for America will not have died in vain," Kissler said. "Not in vain, not in this great country, and not on our watch."

Kissler gave the Memorial Day Prayer in the absence of a clergyman; and Gingrich, a former member of the Marine Band, orchestrated the bugling of Taps. They both remained after the ceremony to visit and answer questions among the mingling crowd. At the noon hour, Kissler and Gingrich ceremoniously retired the old flag flying over the ceremony, then raised and saluted a brand new Old Glory.