Honoring and remembering heroes

Some Memorial Day traditions — the barbecues, appliance sales and being able to wear white again — used to irritate Rathdrum Mayor Vic Holmes, he said Monday, while speaking to a crowd at the city's Pinegrove Cemetery.

But now, Holmes finds honor in even the small things.

“It comes to me that what happens this weekend is not in spite of veterans; it’s because of the sacrifices veterans made,” Holmes said. “We enjoy all of these things because someone was willing to put their life on the line. I can’t say that enough. We enjoy all of the things we enjoy in this country because of veterans. And especially because of those who have fallen.”

The mayor and Rathdrum American Legion Post 154 led the Memorial Day gathering of at least 100 people, including the Northwest Guardian Riders and Boy Scout Troop 911, among the families of veterans and veterans.

Legion Post Chaplain Helen Kinder read the names of three local veterans who lost their lives this year – Marine Larry Winston Parker, and sailors Robert Bedard Sr. and Donald O’Malley – while Ruth Aresvik rang the memorial bell, tolling their loss.

“When politicians debate the cost of veteran benefits, we should remember that the price has already been paid,” said master of ceremonies and Legion Post 154 Commander Dee Sasse.

Attendees placed poppies in an enormous 4-foot wreath before the Guardian Riders placed it on the Pinegrove Fallen Soldier Memorial. Poppies are a reminder of a living legacy, Sasse said.

She asked the audience to remember fallen Coast Guardsmen, many of whom were not awarded Purple Hearts for nearly a century in some cases.

“A flaw in the award system did not permit Coast Guard veterans to receive the Purple Heart for actions until just before World War II,” Sasse said. “This injustice has been corrected. The Coast Guard actively seeks families whose ancestors did not receive their Purple Hearts they earned, to honor all fallen heroes, regardless of how many decades or centuries ago they passed away.”

As an example, Sasse talked about Coast Guardsmen Angus Nelson MacLean and James Frost, who lost their lives in a U-boat attack during World War I and received their Purple Hearts posthumously in March.

Sasse also asked everyone to also honor the Chinese rail workers buried nearby and to remember the impact their efforts had on transportation through the country, the county and the local history and economic development of Rathdrum.

“They were the ones that paved the way for us to bring our soldiers to Farragut,” Sasse said. “To create the lumber industry that brought the people here, the mining industry. They brought the Americans to this part of the republic that is our America.”

An American flag and a Chinese flag from the rail workers' era will be erected in the cemetery to remember the Chinese immigrants there.

The Post 154 Honor Guard fired a 21-gun salute before Chaplain Kinder gave a closing prayer. She held back tears as she made apologies for two veterans who were unable to attend the service for the first time in decades. Her husband, Bill Kinder, and Leon Cromwell could not be there because of their health.

“Heroes never die,” Kinder said. “They live on in the hearts and minds of those who have the privilege to follow in their footsteps.”