A Long History - Memorial Day

Today we take time out of our daily routine to Honor and remember the fallen, both past and present that have served and given that sacrifice for our society to be free.

Alaska has a big military presence and Anchorage has two military bases within town and there are more retired servicemen who have returned to live here after their service.

I read this in the Anchorage Daily News this morning and wanted to share it with everyone for a little perspective that you may not have known.

Our view: Memorial Day

We honor the fallen today with silence and taps and life

Chances are that when you opened this page you saw the photograph first, in the same second that you saw the headline. When you look at it and read the caption, isn't it easy to imagine the grandfather buried beneath that headstone, wherever he is, taking great joy in the grandchildren who visit his grave?

Today we honor the dead who served, from those killed in battle to those who died peacefully decades after their days in uniform. Flags and flowers mark this day. Salutes and prayer. Memories of loved ones.

And moments of silence, wherein we can hear the rustle of wreaths on stone, breath of wind stirring a halyard, bird song.

In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln said that "we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

So it is at any memorial site, whether among the white headstones at Fort Richardson or the flag on the Park Strip in downtown Anchorage.

Picture Caption

DARON DEAN / Anchorage Daily News archive 2005

Augustine Hamner, 6, hugs her grandfather’s headstone as her brother John, 2, straightens his flag and mom Grace watches on Memorial Day in 2005 at Fort Richardson National Cemetery. “She knows the reason her granddad is here,” said Robert Hamner, her father. Hamner said just knowing his dad was a good man, who brought him up right makes Memorial Day special to him. Augustine, who had been to the cemetery before, looked at the headstones and asked, “Why are there more?”

But look again at the photograph. At their grandfather's grave site, those kids are on the edge of play. That's not disrespect. That's life. That's freedom.

That's the promise that their grandfather and millions of others have kept for the rest of us.

America's roll call of the fallen

620,000-- Number of troops killed, counting both Union and Confederate sides, in the Civil War.

405,399 -- Number killed in World War II.

116,516 -- Number killed in World War I.

58,209 -- Number killed in Vietnam War.

54,246 -- Number killed during Korean War.

13,283 -- Number killed during Mexican War.

4,435 -- Number killed in Revolutionary War.

4,283 -- Number killed in Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom) since 2003.

2,446 -- Number killed in Spanish-American War.

2,260 -- Number killed in War of 1812.

679 -- Number killed in Afghanistan War (Operation Enduring Freedom) since 2002.

382 -- Number killed in Persian Gulf War.

Sources: US Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News. Note: Numbers for current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as of May 20. List does not include service members killed in smaller military operations, such as Lebanon, Somalia and Panama, who also are remembered today.

Ice