Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park honors veterans with Memorial Day ceremony
DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) -- Throughout time, people commemorate Memorial Day and those who served in all of the wars in the nation’s history – taking a moment to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
“Memorial Day in our country is really a time to remember – it’s a time to remember the service and the sacrifice of those in our military services who paid the ultimate sacrifice,” explained Cassie Barlow, President of the Southwest Ohio Council for Higher Education.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park hosted a Memorial Day commemoration to honor Veterans, and Barlow said it was an incredible honor to be at the ceremony. “All veterans have stories to tell about those friends that paid the ultimate sacrifices,” she said. “So it’s important for us to come out and remember them; remember their service was for something meaningful, for our freedoms that we life for today.” She added that those sacrifices should never be forgotten.
After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down so many of the commemorative ceremonies in 2020, Barlow says that getting to come back is extra special – especially at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “It’s almost more special at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, because when our Vietnam Vets came back from their service they weren’t thanked for their service,” she explained. “It took them many, many years to be thanked, so having this ceremony here every year is a way that we can thank them for their service.”
After a 26-year career, Barlow says that it’s incredibly humbling to have people come up and thank her for her service. “We all serve because we wanted to, because we volunteered to serve, so it makes us feel good to have people thank us for our service,” she said, adding that it also becomes a way of remembering the friends that had paid the ultimate sacrifice in a very personal way. “It’s very meaningful to have someone come up and thank you for your service.”
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