By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Despite the unusually hot weather, more than 200 people gathered outside in Settler’s Park on Monday, May 28, to honor the nation’s fallen heroes.
The American Legion Marne Post 13 again hosted the annual Memorial Day Parade and Commemoration event, with assistance from the village, the Knights of Columbus, the Boy Scouts, and other local organizations.
“There are many reasons to join the military,” said Marne Post Commander Gregory Roach. “Preserving freedom, serving, giving back, protecting the homeland, getting an education, or straightening out one’s life, et cetera. When someone enlists or receives a commission in the officer corps, they know to some degree there’s a fair chance that their life could be lost in combat. Fortunately, this only happens to a small percentage of our service members.”
Roach said that servicemen and women sign up to serve knowing the risk of death, because they see that risk as worth the reward of preserving the nation.
“The knowledge that loved ones, friends, and fellow citizens left behind would best be able to live out their lives protected by the freedoms that are enumerated in the Constitution and its amendments was the most common and important reason our service members are willing to, and in over a million cases throughout our history, have given their lives.”
Memorial Day is observed the last Monday of May each year, to honor the men and women who have died while serving in the military.
The observance began after the Civil War as Decoration Day and was declared a federal holiday in 1971.