Human beings are born with a strong instinct to survive, but sometimes that instinct is pushed aside when they believe there is something more important than themselves.
That’s the message that was delivered by Retired Col. Charles J. O’Brien, the parade grand marshal, at Lawrence Township’s annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony at Veterans Park May 25.
O’Brien, who was the keynote speaker, said history is full of examples of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Marines who put aside their fears to complete their mission.
“‘You must be afraid (in order) to have courage,'” O’Brien said, quoting the late U.S. Senator John McCain, who was a U.S. Navy pilot who spent years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War when his fighter jet was shot down.
O’Brien pointed to the soldiers from the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment in the Civil War and to the bomber pilots who launched off an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean, unsure of whether their bombers had enough fuel to return after completing the mission.
The actions of the Union Army’s 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg at Cemetery Ridge, is an example of what soldiers are willing to do, he said.
The 20th Maine Infantry Regiment was tasked with holding off Confederate Army soldiers who were attempting to outflank them. They held off the brutal attacks, but they were running out of ammunition, O’Brien said.
The 20th Maine Infantry Regiment had several choices – to surrender, to run away or to counterattack, he said. They chose to attack with bayonets, forcing the Confederate soldiers to flee.
O’Brien pointed to the World War II bomber pilots who volunteered to take off from an aircraft carrier in the western Pacific Ocean to bomb targets in Japan. There was one problem – they might not have enough fuel to carry out the bombing raid and fly back to the aircraft carrier.
“They were mostly volunteers. Why would anyone accept (that mission)? There was something more important than themselves,” he said, noting that most of the pilots successfully completed the mission.
O’Brien turned the attendees’ attention to June 6, 1944 – the D-Day invasion at Normandy. The American Normandy cemetery is filled with the graves of soldiers who died during the invasion, he said.
“(But) what you need to do is to go north, to the top of the cliffs of Normandy and look down where 6,000 soldiers died. What made someone come up that well-defended cliff,” he asked rhetorically.
It takes good leaders who can inspire others to do the right thing because “some things are bigger than you – even the instinct to survive,” O’Brien said.
“We are thankful for their sacrifices. They gave us the greatest gift – freedom,” he said of the military service members who died.
Master of Ceremonies Andrew Tunnard reinforced the meaning of Memorial Day. It is a day to pause and remember the thousands of fellow citizens – fallen military service members -whose lives were forever disrupted.
While news reports leading up to Memorial Day focused on traffic and the weather, what is more important are the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East and the proxy war with China, said Tunnard, who served in the U.S. Navy and retired with the rank of commander.
“Those are actually tough situations with true sacrifice, but we turn most of our attention to the cost of gasoline,” he said.
People are so absorbed with any interruptions to their comfortable lives that they have forgotten the military service members who really had their lives disrupted by death, he said.
“Today is to remember the fallen service members who were someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, father or mother who gave their lives in service to their country so that we may live free and prosperous,” Tunnard said.
Tunnard also paused to pay tribute to the late MaryAnn Arnold, a U.S. Air Force veteran and member of American Legion Post 414 and its Ladies Auxiliary.
Arnold, who died in March, was a fixture at the Memorial Day ceremony and “enthusiastically” delivered the invocation every year, he said.
Arnold’s name was read aloud, along with the names of three other members of American Legion Post 414, the names of members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3022 and the 112th Field Artillery Association who all died during the past year were also read.
The 112th Field Artillery Association’s cannon crew gave an artillery salute. It was followed by the flag detail and by the playing of “Taps” by members of the Lawrence High School Marching Band.
