Memorial Day 2015

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Good morning my fellow Rotarians.  On the beginning of this Memorial Day weekend I thought it only fitting to share with you some history.   

Originally known as Decoration Day, it was a day set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves.  The first observance was May 30, 1868.  It was a short speech by General James Garfield at Arlington National Cemetery and then over 5,000 volunteers decorated the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

This 1868 celebration inspired many local observances and after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America's wars.

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May.  Today, Memorial Day is still celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery very much like the first one, with a simple speech by either the president or the vice-president and then a wreath is laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

Flags are also placed on the graves of each of the 260,000 soldiers buried in Arlington.  Over 1500 soldiers of the 3^rd Infantry Regiment (or better known as the Old Guard) perform a “flag in” ceremony which take them about four hours to place a flag at every grave.  They then remove those flags on Tuesday morning before the cemetery is opened back up to the public.

Now let me tell you a story about a real veteran from Oklahoma who dropped out of high school to fight in World War II.  It took him 72 years to receive his diploma, which was accomplished this past week.

Bill Larkin, 90, who left school during his senior year in 1943, served with the US Marines in Iwo Jima and elsewhere, joined the 2015 graduating class ceremonies at Skiatook High School this past Thursday evening.

Skiatook invited the veteran to receive his honorary diploma as a way to recognize his service and inspire graduating seniors.  When school officials discovered he only lacked on history credit to graduate, they decided his military service fulfilled that requirement.

"I do not know what I need a diploma now for, I am not looking for a job.  I have done just fine with out one," Larkin told the Claremont Daily Progress newspaper.  Larkin spent three years overseas during the war and returned home to marry his high school sweetheart, Lois.  After the war, he worked as a truck driver and pipeline construction supervisor, but never went back to finish the class he needed to earn a diploma.

Memorial Day is a rich tradition where all Americans can take pause to pray and to thank our greatest heroes.  Let’s remember to honor those men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  And that is the Bottom of our News on this May 22, 2015! 

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