May 27, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
A special tribute was paid to the flag during Monday’s Memorial Day observance at the county complex.
Active duty and retired members of the 118th Airlift Wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard in Nashville presented “Operation Patriotism”, a stirring program which teaches the audience about the history of our Flag and how it came to be what it is today. “Operation Patriotism” takes you on a journey through history for a look at some of the early flags that were part of America’s past followed by a moving narrative from the viewpoint of our national emblem “Old Glory”.
(Video below shows entire Flag Tribute Program)
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(Video below shows veterans and others (riding school bus) being escorted downtown by Sheriff Patrick Ray and DeKalb Fire Department for placement of Memorial Day wreath at Veterans Monument)
The Five Flag Ceremony included the Queen Anne Flag from 1707 to the Revolution, Grand Union Flag raised over George Washington’s Headquarters on January 1, 1776, Betsy Ross Flag the first official flag of the new nation, the United States of America on June 14, 1777, Star Spangled Banner flag May 1, 1795 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write our National Anthem, and finally Old Glory April 4th, 1818 the Flag of the United States of America of today.
Don Rigsby, a Senior Master Sergeant now retired from the 118th unit, was the guest speaker for the program and arranged for “Operation Patriotism” to be presented as part of the Memorial Day observance here.
“We are here to remember. Memorial Day is a national holiday celebrated the last Monday in May to pay tribute to those who died serving in the military of our country. I want us to remember these men and women who gave their lives for our freedom. I’d also like to remember the families of those who died. They also sacrificed for our freedom,” said Rigsby.
“One way we can keep alive in our hearts memories of those who died is to look to the American flag. As I look at America today I see a problem with our country in patriotism. I don’t see the same patriotism that I saw in my growing up years. I think we need that patriotism to come back. That flag means so much to so many people. It has draped coffins of dead people from all the wars. It is always to be honored and kept upright and clean,” Rigsby continued.
The Memorial Day program was hosted by the American Legion Post #122.
The observance began with patriotic music by Susan Hinton and James Snyder followed by a welcome from Commander William Edmonds and then the presentation of colors and pledge of allegiance by Boy Scout Troop #347.
Rigsby led in prayer and a chorus of four performed the National Anthem.
Judy Redmon, President of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary paid tribute to fallen soldiers with the following poem called “The Soldier” and then a moment of silence.
I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young soldier saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil
How many mothers’ tears?
How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, freedom isn’t free.
I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill
I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant ‘Amen, ‘
When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn’t free.
Following Rigsby’s remarks as guest speaker, Ronnie Redmon, Adjutant President of the American Legion Post 122 made closing comments.
The audience then gathered at the veterans memorial monument outside the courthouse on the south side for the placement of a wreath where Josh Moon blew taps to close the program.