A Day to Remember

More than 120 people attended a moving Memorial Day ceremony held at the Camp Polk Cemetery on Monday, May 26.

A musical prelude by students from Sisters High School was followed by the Call to Colors and opening praye

r by Lt. Col. Larry Henderson, pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Sisters and senior chaplain of the Idaho Army National Guard.

Phil Chlopek, Commander of American Legion Post #86 and Sr.-Vice Commander of Sisters VFW Post 8138 gave the greeting, directed presentation of the colors and introduced guest speaker Barry Enoch.

Enoch, a highly decorated veteran of the Viet Nam War, was a Navy Seal and is author of the book Teammates: SEALS at War.

Enoch gave a tribute to soldiers and loved ones, those who attended the Memorial Day Service. "Because you care, I salute you for that," said Enoch.

He quoted the cover of a publication he had saved that read, "To Live in the Hearts We Leave Behind, Is Not to Die," and spoke of visiting the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington D.C., where walking down into the recess of the black marble wall, he felt as if he were entering the graves of the 58,022 soldiers who died in the 15 years of that confli

ct.

But Enoch described how humbled he was then by a trip to Gettysburg, where "60,000 died in three days," and how the United States has "paid dearly to be united and free."

In the wall of the Viet Nam memorial, someone had pushed a small card, on which was written "Joe, I'll never, never, never forget." That message Enoch brought to Memorial Day in Sisters.

After a laying of wreathes by Irene and Bill Peck, Jean Sproat and Jack Berry, Pastor Jim Gentry of the Sisters Baptist Church gave the closing prayer.

The firing squad of G-troop, 1/82 Cavalry of the Oregon National Guard fired a salute, and band leader Jody Henderson played taps, the song floating across the cemetery and into meadow below