Officials honor the fallen on Memorial Day
In honor of Memorial Day, a ceremony hosted by American Legion Post 29 of Siloam Springs was held at the American Legion Community Hall Monday morning to commemorate those veterans who paid the ultimate price and to honor those who survived.
The audience ranged from young children to veterans representing every branch of the military. Speakers at the event included Siloam Springs Mayor John Turner, Siloam Post 29 Commander J.W. Smith and Ark. State Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R-District 87).
Lundstrum served as the keynote speaker and said that as someone whose father was a helicopter pilot and served in both Vietnam and Desert Storm, that attending a service on Memorial Day is something that has become a tradition for her. She also spoke on the quality of veteran care in Northwest Arkansas.
“I do think things are improving for veterans in Northwest Arkansas, now, on the national level, as far as veterans’ hospitals, it has not been all that great,” Lundstrum said. “I like what Trump has done as far as moving things to where our veterans can get services anywhere; they should not have to just go to a veterans hospital.
“Veterans should be able to use any hospital, they should not have to travel to places like Little Rock to get services when there is a perfectly good hospital here. Why stress our veterans? We need to make it easier on them, not harder.”
Smith is a 20-year veteran of the United States Air Force and served in various capacities in
numerous places across the world including Japan, Spain, Turkey and Korea. He said that while he holds this day in reverence, he has some concerns about the way others feel about it.
“Unfortunately, so many people in America do not realize what Memorial Day is, they have kind of gotten
away from it and think that it is time to go camping, boating or fishing,” Smith said. “The older generations like myself are a little different because on Memorial Day we always take 30 to 45 minutes to go and honor the veterans that came before us.”
Smith also said that the problem may be getting perpetuated by technology that has become part of contemporary society.
I just think that because
of things like social media, there are so many distractions, Smith said. Everyone is on social media all day. Whether it be Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, there are so many different things to be distracted by, that many people do not stop and think about things like “What did my dad do when he was my age?”
In his speech, Mayor Turner affirmed Smith’s sentiments by accentuating
the notion that continuing to hold such ceremonies each year is important, and that it will remain a priority for Siloam Springs. Turner ended by trying to convey what the holiday means to him.
“Perhaps our 34th president, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, expressed it most beautifully when he said, ‘Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free,’” Smith said.