Several hundred people gathered at Fort Vancouver on Monday to send a resounding message to those who have died defending our country: You will never be forgotten.
“As a military commander who has felt the pain and loss of soldiers in combat on a very personal level, I am truly honored to join you today,” said keynote speaker Brig. Gen. Kurt J. Ryan. “This place called Vancouver served as freedom’s frontier, and I can think of no better backdrop for a Memorial Day remembrance than the Vancouver Barracks.”
Ryan said that millions of Americans spend the long weekend visiting mountains and beaches and attending barbecues, but he said he hopes that they all took a moment to stop and reflect on the meaning of the holiday.
“Be proud that you have your priorities straight today,” Ryan told the crowd, which filled rows of chairs and spilled out to the surrounding grass. “Your attendance today is truly a testament of our shared admiration and respect for our nation’s fallen men and women, the nation’s quite frankly most cherished treasure, our sons and daughters.”
Gold Star family members, who have lost a loved one who served, wore white carnations for the ceremony.
Tina Tierson, 70, of Vancouver donned a carnation. She said that Monday was her first time attending a local Memorial Day ceremony after recently learning of the event from another Gold Star member.
“I don’t want to be part of this club,” she said. Tierson’s son, Timothy Romei, died during Operation Desert Shield 25 years ago. “I wish I could have come to the ceremony in a different way.”
She said that the lone bugler performing “Taps” and the bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” gets to her every time.
The loss, she said, “is like a hole. You learn to live with it, but it never really goes away.”
Though the event normally is held at the Clark County Veterans War Memorial, a refurbishing project by the National Park Service pushed this year’s ceremony to the parade ground.
“By late 2016, the historic barracks fronting the parade ground will, as I like to say, stand proudly at attention in full dress … as they did when first they were built,” said Tracy Fortmann, superintendent of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
The parade ground, Fortmann said, is also sacred. The central space of the post is where soldiers drilled, were given orders and held ceremonies.
“We are in the symbolic center of the garrison,” Fortmann said.
U.S. Army Col. John Sweeney gave a speech that brought the message home for young attendees. He recounted a scene from one of the “Lord of the Rings” movies in which main characters Frodo and Sam have a desperate moment and question their journey of destroying a powerful ring, which could be used as a weapon for evil.
“Frodo asked, ‘What are we holding onto, Sam?’ Sam replies, ‘That there’s some good in this world Mr. Frodo and it’s worth fighting for,’ ” Sweeney said.
He said that when he saw that scene, he was reminded of those who have died for a greater purpose.
“They did it in spite of the fear, the unknown, the sacrifice, the burden that comes with that purpose,” he said. “And so we are here, reminding ourselves of those who have died, reminding ourselves of the character, the strength, the courage and moral fortitude of those in uniform and the ultimate fall we learn to accept.”
Jake and Jennifer Wilber brought four of their children from their home in Gresham, Ore., to experience the event.
Jennifer Wilber said that their son, Thomas, had just finished an American history project and she wanted him to see some of that history firsthand, which included the Clark County Veterans War Memorial wall.
“We want him to know what it’s about,” she said. “He was fascinated with the other Thomases that had died.”
“It’s not just a day off school, it’s about this,” Jake Wilber said. “It’s emotional. They deserve our presence and our respect.”
