An older woman wiped away tears as the moving sound of taps enveloped a crowd of about 200 for the Memorial Day ceremonies Monday morning at Highland Cemetery. They gathered to remember veterans, deceased and living.
Rob Nelson, commander of Iola American Legion Post 15 noted, “Scripture tells us there is no greater love than a man laying down his life for his friends.”
Speaking from the midst of the burial ground for veterans, Nelson said, “These men and women have proven they are not just friends to Americans, but they are friends to men and women in countries around the world.”
He recalled Sgt. William Stacey, a Marine from Redding, Calif., who was killed by an explosive device during his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.
In a letter to be read in the event of his death, Redding said: “My death did not change the world … but there will be a child who will live because men left the security they enjoyed in their home country to come to his. …If my life buys the safety of a child who will one day change this world, then I know it was all worth it.”
Nelson proposed that Stacey and many others have changed the world by their willingness to make sacrifices.
“Americans must remember freedom isn’t free,” he said. “In fact, it’s only possible because our fellow heroes have paid a price … that allows us the freedom we enjoy today.”
In conclusion, Nelson admonished his listeners to “leave here today knowing that our destiny as free people is entirely up to us.”
Wreaths were laid at the obelisk in the veterans section of the cemetery. The Moran American Legion squad fired a salute to the dead. Iola Municipal Band opened ceremonies with the national anthem and closed with “America the Beautiful,” after one of its members, Andy Dunlap, played taps.
