ALTAMONT — A solemn crowd in Altamont reflected services across the area on Monday and over the weekend with a Memorial Day observance at Union Cemetery.
“We ask your blessing of these great people that are here, Father, and over the VFW and the American Legion that are representing the armed services today,” said The Rev. Jody Kitts, pastor of Altamont Christian Church. “We pray, Father, most of all, that you will guide us by your Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Gregory Cann, vice commander of Altamont VFW Post 7676, dedicated the day to “the men and women who have served, and gave so much.”
“Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters entrusted their sons and daughters to serve,” Cann said. “They went out, and some of them didn’t come back. The men died. But the families – part of them died, too. They gave up their son or their daughter, their brother or sister. All their lives and all those memories, a part of them died with them.”
Cann also reflected on the sacrifices of those who had come back from war.
“No one ever goes to war and returns unscathed,” he said. “The men are changed. The women are changed. They have their demons. They have the things they have to live with. Mothers and brothers and sisters will say, ‘Where is my son? Where is my innocent boy?’
“That is part of this memorial. The price of freedom is not something cheap. It is so precious. They pay a terrible price.”
Cann spoke of how the Pledge of Allegiance takes on a deeper meaning for those who served and sacrificed.
“For the ones who served and for the ones whose families served, it’s different. It’s hard. They remember their friends. They remember the people that suffered. And they feel, the guys who were in combat, the regret of living while their friends died.
“They went out and did the dirty work. They’re the ones that carried the biggest burden for this freedom we have. They bled for it. They died for it. These are things we honor for their sacrifice.”