|
Marine addresses memorial gathering
Editor's note: The following speech was presented at the dedication of the Highland County Veterans Memorial Sunday, Nov. 11 by Brig. Gen. James Laster, USMC and is repeated here in its entirety.
 | | Marine Brig. Gen. James Laster was the guest speaker at the Highland Veterans Memorial and Walk of Honor dedication ceremony Sunday. Below, more than 300 turned out for the dedication. (Recorder photo by James Jacenich) |
|
"Senator and Mrs. Emmett Hangar, Distinguished Veterans, Citizens of Highland County, thank you for the warm welcome. I'm honored to be back in Monterey, Va., which I consider to be my second home. I'm also proud to be here today to dedicate the Highland County Veterans' Memorial. We have come here to honor and remember the high cost of our freedom. The 622 bricks honor those veterans, from the French and Indian War to operation Iraqi Freedom who dedicated their lives to protect our freedom. I am also especially pleased to see so many military veterans with us today. Those who have risked their lives for our freedom and have earned the respect and gratitude of our nation.
"Today our nation pays tribute to those veterans, 25 million strong, who have worn the uniform of the United States of America. Each of these men and women took an oath to defend America, and they upheld that oath with honor and decency. Through the generations they have humbled dictators and liberated continents and set a standard of courage and idealism for the entire world.
"President Dwight Eisenhower once said, 'The history of free men is never written by chance, but by choice - their choice.' Veterans of Highland County, like our men and women today across the globe, have and continue to risk and dedicate their lives in order to protect this great nation and our freedom. Veterans like Arnet Gutshall, who served in the Navy during World War II and while assigned to the USS Wasp, near Guadalcanal, was forced to abandon ship when it was sunk by enemy fire. Frank Smith, who served in the Army during World War II and was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. He was wounded and taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, and was later liberated by the Russians in April 1945. Houston Smith, who served in the Army during World War II as a member of the 84th Infantry Division and was wounded in action. And veterans like Jacob and Carol Hevener, both World War II veterans who met in Germany during their service and then married and returned to their farm after the war. Ross Hefner, who served in the Marine Corps and was a prisoner of war during the Korean War; Alfred Armstrong who is also Korean War veteran, and Roger Botkin, who served in the Army during Vietnam with 1st Bn, 27th Inf Reg, and was wounded in action. And today, April and Landon Reedy, brother and sister both serving in the Army and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Landon also served in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. They are represented here today by their parents Claude and Jeanne Reedy. I thank you, Highland County thanks you, and America thanks you for April and Landon's service in defense of our freedom.
"I would be remiss if I didn't mention my close friend, Col. Jim Cobb, USMC (Ret.), known and respected leader and warrior with combat tours in Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Somalia. Thank you, Jim, for all that you do for this nation and for this community.
"If I've missed recognizing any other veterans among you today, please accept my humblest apologies and sincerest gratitude.
"On Veterans' Day we also remember the troops who left America's shores but did not live to be thanked as veterans. On this Veterans' Day, we honor the courage of those who were lost in our current struggle. We think of the families who lost a loved one and we pray for their comfort. And we remember the men and women in uniform whose fate is still undetermined, our prisoners of war and those missing in action. America must never forget their courage, and we will not stop searching until we have accounted for every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, and Coast Guardsman missing in the line of duty.
"Highland County is a fitting place to honor those veterans who have fought, and those in the past, who have fallen in defense of freedom. For the better part of a century, Highland County has had a unique military history. The Battle of McDowell, part of the Shenandoah Valley campaign, took place near here May 8, 1862. It was here that a small but bitter engagement west of Staunton, Va., in the mountains of Highland County, in the tiny village of McDowell.
"Highland County is also home to a thriving community of military families. Your support for those who wear the uniform and your support of each other through difficult times brings great pride to our country and could serve as a role model for all communities throughout America.
"With the rise of a deadly enemy our history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers. And yet this fight we have joined is also the current expression of an ancient struggle between those who put their faith in dictators and extreme ideology and those who put their faith in freedom and democracy.
"Throughout history, tyrants and would-be-tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure, until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and would-be-tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent, until the day free men and women defeat them.
"We are not a country that seeks war, and we are not a country that seeks enemies. We are a society founded on the greatness of individual effort, where there can be no greater tragedy than the loss of human life. But why are we so seemingly willing to fight and, if need be, to die? The answer to that question is as simple - and yet as complex - as the soul of America itself. We fight because we believe. Not that war is good, but that sometimes, it is necessary.
"That soul of America is as strong and pure here in Highland as your mountain air. My wife read in the newspaper that you had close to an 80 percent voter turnout in the local election. I don't need to tell you folks that that is unprecedented. You folks live and breathe the idea that some things are worth standing up for and some things are worth fighting for.
"I've traveled in 38 foreign countries and operated in places with unpronounceable names, so I believe I'm qualified to tell you that your community, your values, and your love for our country is without equal.
"As I mentioned earlier, there are 622 bricks on this Walk of Honor. But know that these bricks represent more than the service of men and women in uniform - they represent this community's service to America by giving forth your most precious gifts - the lives of your sons and daughters.
"Thank you and God bless all the veterans and great citizens of Highland County."
|
)