Memorial Day 2012

May 29, 2012

Memorial Day services were held across South Dakota and the USA on Monday. The special day has become the kick-off to summer, but it has regained much of its original significance because our country has now been at war for the past decade. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.

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Yankton's services were held in Memorial Park, where local VFW Commander Rich Wright welcomed a large crowd. He said politicians don't guarantee your right to vote. Preachers don't guarantee your right to worship. Poets and journalists don't guarantee your right to free speech. Those and all other rights are guaranteed by soldiers willing to fight for them.
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The Yankton community lost four young men in the Iraq war, and they were remembered and memorialized on Monday — even on a friend's t-shirt.
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There was a solemn reading of veterans who have died in the past 12 months.
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Memorial Park in the center of Yankton was adorned with the American flag. The park was given to the city by the Fantle family many years ago as a way to honor the community's soldiers.
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Lt. Governor Matt Michels of Yankton delivered the keynote address, noting that Memorial Day is really another Thanksgiving Day — a time, he said, to say thank you to the Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, National Guard and Marines.
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Veterans representing all branches of the armed forces were in uniform on the sunny Monday morning.
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A seven-gun salute came near the end of the program.
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As always, the emotional 24-note song of "Taps" concluded the program.
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Our country's 236-year history is weary with war. Countless soldiers, families and communities have paid a heavy price for our freedoms.