While Memorial Day is a time to remember those who died in service to our country, local ceremonies Monday were a reminder that it is up to the living to honor those sacrifices.

In Waterloo, a Memorial Day service was held at the  Monroe County Courthouse grounds.

The speaker at the event was retired United States Air Force Lt. Gen. Garry Trexler, a Columbia High School graduate and son of World War II veteran and Columbia resident Roy “Sid” Trexler.

“Freedom is not free. Freedom is not a natural state that people around the world recognize. And freedom is never fully paid for,” Trexler said during his address.

He noted that of the over 1.2 million members of the United States Armed Forces who died during wartime, over one million of those deaths are attributed to the Civil War and World War II.

Those wars are impactful because almost everyone knew a veteran afterward, Trexler explained. 

He added the relationship between society and veterans has been weakened, but events such as Memorial Day ceremonies help people recognize that there are still veterans around them.

Referring to America’s first President George Washington, Trexler echoed the sentiment that the next generation of military personnel are influenced by the way in which they see current veterans being treated.

He then lauded the efforts of veteran support organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project, but said veteran support should also be a priority of elected officials and government agencies.

Also on Monday morning, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Forrest Keaton, a 1970 Valmeyer High School graduate, offered a series of reflections on the meaning of the day as well as advice for how to honor the dead during remarks on the Valmeyer American Legion Post 901 grounds. 

“It’s always good to come back to Valmeyer,” Keaton said, recalling he distinctly remembered the reading of the roll of the deceased during ceremonies in the 1960s and 70s at the former American Legion post in old Valmeyer.

“I recall that as the roll was read, there were names of people I didn’t know at the time, names we have heard today: Freeman Granade, Elwood Meyer, Melvin Boyer and Ray Althoff… It’s entirely appropriate and important that, today, we have once again heard their names,” Keaton shared.

He then read a letter written to his wife’s great-uncle by her great-grandmother.

The letter was written in January 1944 and addressed to Harlow Phelps Spencer, who was killed in Italy in 1943. 

“Maybe there was a mistake. Maybe you will come back. I just can’t think you won’t; it’s too awful,” Keaton read. “I’m not giving up on you. Someday I’ll write again to the sweetest boy ever born,” the letter concluded.

The envelope containing the letter was marked “return to sender” and stamped “verified” – indicating the recipient was deceased.

Keaton then shared his memory of two ROTC cadets in his unit while he was attending Bradley  University. Both died while serving in active duty. 

“Those whom I have mentioned in these reflections are not unique, but they are examples of the real people who died in service to this nation. We need to continue to remember them and hundreds of thousands of others like them.”

He ended by sharing the story of retired Air Force General David Goldfien, who was famously rescued after being shot down in Serbia in 1999 while piloting an F-16.

Keaton cited Goldfien’s recollection of waiting for rescue. 

“He thought, ‘Am I worthy of these airmen risking everything for me?’” Keaton said, offering the challenge for attendees to “work every day to make sure the answer is ‘Yes.”

Columbia American Legion Post 581 hosted its traditional Memorial Day program, which included patriotic music by the Belleville Community Band and a wreath-laying ceremony at the post’s famous Doughboy Statue.

Cameron Crook, Charles Dudley and Eugene Ebersohl were recognized for 50 years of continuous American Legion Post 581 membership.

Longtime Columbia Fire Chief Mike Roediger was the featured speaker. He gave a brief history of the fire protection district and current department operations. 

“We’re blessed to be on the leading edge” of fire department service, Roediger told attendees.

Post 581 Commander Greg Smith shared the continuing work of honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Smith explained that a technicality had prevented some Coast Guard personnel from being awarded the Purple Heart after being killed in action during World War I, but that it has been “corrected this year,” and the Coast Guardsmen have been issued the distinction posthumously.

Smith also announced the remains of a previously unidentified WWII soldier have been returned to Chester for burial this weekend.

U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James Howie, 24, died Aug. 1, 1943, in Romania during Operation Tidal Wave.

Following the war, more than 80 unidentified remains from the raid were reinterred at the Ardennes and Liberator Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium.

Last fall, Howie’s remains were positively identified. There will be a graveside service for Howie at 11 a.m. June 3 at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Chester.

“Today, we are the living,” Smith said, adding it is the obligation of the living to honor the sacrifices of those who died to protect their freedoms.

To view photos from this year’s Memorial Day services in Monroe County, click here.