Meridian and Lauderdale County veterans and members of the community recognized the sacrifices of previous members of the U.S. Armed Forces Saturday as they took part in a Memorial Day ceremony at the East Mississippi Veterans Park.

 

Jeff Summerlin, president of the East Mississippi Veterans Foundation, said Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the cost of freedom and honor those who paid to preserve it throughout the nation’s history. Since World War I, he said, 244 Lauderdale County residents have died in service to their country.

 

“The 244 heroes of Lauderdale County who gave all will never be, we will never forget them, and will always be memorialized here and never forgotten here in the East Mississippi Veterans Park,” he said. “To truly honor their lives, we must share their stories with others and ensure their memories live on even though they are gone.”

 

Rep. Michael Guest, who represents Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District and served as speaker for Saturday’s event, said more than 1.2 million Americans have been killed while serving in the military since the nation’s founding. Throughout its history of conflicts, the United States has paid heavily to defend its ideals and generations of young men have fought and died to preserve others’ freedom.

 

“We know that those individuals, that they lost their lives on battlefields in places called Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Omaha Beach, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Heartbreak Ridge, Pork Chop hill, Panama, Grenada, Fallujah,” he said. “The price for freedom has, at times, been high, but we as Americans, we as Mississippians, we have never been afraid to pay that price and defend freedom across the globe.”

 

Guest said he is reminded of something said by President Ronald Regan. In his Jan. 5, 1967 inaugural address, Regan said:

 

“Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.  And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.”

All military service members deserve thanks and gratitude for their commitment to defending freedom, Guest said, and those who have given their lives preserving it for future generations can never be honored enough. What can be done, he said, is to pass on their memories and ensure the values they died to protect are sustained.

 

“Today, as we gather to celebrate Memorial Day, we focus on remembering those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice,” he said. “We know that we can never repay the debt we our our brave solders, sailors, airmen and Marines, but we can keep their memory alive.”

 

Saturday’s event also saw the unveiling of a Blue Star Memorial at the Veterans Park, courtesy of the Garden Clubs of Mississippi. The Blue Star Memorials recognize all members of the U.S. armed forces, whether they have served, are serving or will serve in the future.

 

Nancy Moore, chair of the Blue Star program for the Garden Clubs of Mississippi, said the club is committed to honoring those serving in the military.

 

“We’re here today to pay tribute to our armed forces. They stand ready at a moment’s notice to defend our country. We must not forget them, and we do not,” she said.