The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Honoring those who have fallen
Lorain Vets Council holds service for Memorial Day
Community members joined the Lorain Veterans Council on May 27 to honor those who have fallen in the line of duty while serving our country.
Participants were treated to speeches, ceremonies and music performed by the Lorain High School Band Wind Ensemble and the Lorain High choir at the performing arts center, 2600 Ashland Avenue.
In giving the invocation for the event, Tim Carrion encapsulated the reason for the observance of Memorial Day as a whole.
“Today we are here to honor those that have served our country and given the ultimate sacrifice so that we may stand here and still live in freedom,” he said. “We need to be constantly reminded of our gift of freedom and of those who
gave so much.
“We should all make sure future generations continue to know life in a free, democratic nation and society,” he continued. “Remembering those who passed is only half of the task that is before us. We must continue to share their stories and to honor them so that they might live on.”
The keynote speaker for the event, Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Peters, of the Ohio Army National Guard 837th Engineer Company and the 112th Engineer Battalion, asked the attendees to still enjoy the festivities of the holiday but not to forget the solemn reason for the commemoration.
“Memorial Day isn’t about just honoring veterans, it’s about honoring those who have lost their lives,” he said. “Veterans have the ability to come home. Memorial Day is a day we as a country come together to honor and remember our servicemen and women who answered America’s call to service and paid the ultimate price.
“Memorial Day is the time for Americans as one body to stand up and say, ‘Thank you, we remember you, we are grateful to you,” he said.
Peters then spoke about the positive impact his time with the military has had on his life. He said he grew up as a troubled youth with a problem with authority but through his service he and his family have a home and he is nearly finished with a master’s degree.
“And I have an extended family of brothers-and-sisters-in-arms that I can call for anything I want, and they can call for me as well,” he said.
Peters explained that he is lucky to be a veteran after he and his company were deployed to Afghanistan in 2013. He said his company had found 85 percent of improvised explosive devices during their deployment and were only hit with 15 percent.
“Which means we got blown up a little bit, but nobody got hurt; everybody came back ok,” he said.
According to Peters the care packages he and his unit received while deployed not just from their families but from members of the community reminded them of what was waiting for them upon their return.
He explained the best moment for him during the deployment was when they returned and the streets were lined with community members to greet them.
“We were riding up in the bus and I didn’t recognize half the faces, but that meant something to me,” he said. “It meant a lot to me that the community rallied around us and supported us so much. That’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”