Honoring our Veterans

By Mandy Walton

Friday, Nov. 7, 2008 | 2:54 p.m.

Henderson is honoring veterans this weekend at a ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial Wall. The annual event starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Events Plaza on Water Street.

This year, 25 names are being added to the wall, said Kathy Blaha, a spokeswoman for the City of Henderson. It was initially thought that 18 names were going to be added this year, but more names have since been added to this list, she said.

The wall is the only one of its kind in Nevada. Featured on the Veteran’s Memorial Wall are the names of our civic representatives and the offices they have held (or are currently serving), names of those who were Henderson residents during their service in the Vietnam War, deceased veterans who were residents of Henderson prior to 1980, and those who have lived in Henderson, from 1980 to the present, who were killed in action.

Attending this ceremony is a great way to pay homage to our local veterans. I can attest to this, as I’ve gone for the past nine years. As each name to be added to the wall is read, a bell is chimed. The silence between each ring is deafening as you realize the significance: Honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of this country. We are forever indebted to those who served us.

My own brother served our country in the Marines. In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As I write this blog, I decided to dig out old letters from my brother. It’s like watching a movie play through my mind when I read his letters. Visions of “All Quiet on the Western Front” or “A Farewell to Arms” flash in my mind when I read words such as, “Yesterday we were mortared…” “we dig holes to sleep in…” and “I haven’t had a shower in months.”

Besides his letters, I have old newspaper articles praising our troops, editorials from the Home News’ own Mike O’Callaghan, and even a letter I sent back to Mike, which was printed. All of these mementos I keep tucked away in my filing cabinet, only to be resurrected each year around Veterans Day.

The love I feel for those who have fought for my freedom is something I cannot craft into words. It is a feeling that burns in the bottom of my soul and radiates through my bones.

To quote myself, in my letter to the editor in July of 2003, I said that our troops “die without choice so that we may live in a free world.”

Please honor our troops this holiday. Attend the ceremony. Display your American flag at your home. Watch specials on television that pay tribute to our heroes. All of this you are free and able to choose to take part in because of the freedom that has been sustained by our veterans.