News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Crook County's drill team presented teh flag and performed a rifle drill at the Village Green ceremony.
A gentle breeze stirred the American flag and a host of service banners and bright sun winked off the shiny brass accouterments of the Crook County Naval Junior ROTC Drill Team as Sisters honored fallen soldiers in the traditional Memorial Day service at the Village Green on Monday, May 29.
The event began with an invocation by Sisters pastor Ed Beacham and greetings and introductions by event organizer John Turner but it was dominated by an impassioned and sometimes politically charged speech by keynote speaker Col. John Miller, USAF Ret.
Miller, born in 1942, recounted how his earliest memories were formed in conversation at his home about the valor and sacrifice then being made by soldiers battling Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
He recalled walking in the hollers of West Virginia as a small child: “Three B-17s flew over our heads and right then I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “I wanted to fly.”
Those early experiences led him into a career in the military as a fighter pilot and later as the commander of an air transport wing.
Another youthful experience also shaped Miller’s outlook: attending the funeral of an uncle, killed in action in France in 1944.
Because of that death, Miller said, “Memorial Day has always been a solemn day for our family.”
He noted that the day has become a holiday for most Americans, rather than the day of remembrance it was intended as when first created in 1868.
“Thank you for remembering,” he said.
He said that by remembering the significance of the day, “we reflect on the ideals and values that our soldiers stood for.”
He said that “at no time has America gloried in war” and noted that Americans have never enslaved the conquered aggressors.
Miller took note of Robert D. Maxwell’s speech at Friday’s dedication of the Sisters Rotary Veterans Park (see story, page 1) and reiterated Maxwell’s bidding of his audience to reflect on what the world might have been like without American intervention in World War II.
“Freedom would not have survived if men had not been willing to lay down their lives to stop Hitler and his killing machine,” Miller said.
Turning to later conflicts, Miller’s statements became more political. He reflected upon his own experience in Vietnam and what he perceives as the undermining of the war effort there by a press and politicians interested in their own power.
He argued that “a free Iraq will be a deterrent to terror in the Middle East” and that soldiers will not lose in that conflict but the war could be lost “if America loses her will to fight.”
He commented on allegations that Marines murdered Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November.
“That is not moral; it is not honorable,” he said.
Miller said that the military would try those responsible and that they could be executed. He said he fears that the situation will be portrayed in a way that ignores positive stories from Iraq and “will tear this country apart.”
His remarks drew a strong ovation from the assemblage.
The event featured performances by the Crook County drill team including the songs “God Bless the USA” and “A Soldier’s Sacrifice.”
The team presented the flags of the services to the tune of each service’s hymn and offered a crisp rifle drill.
The Sisters Memorial Day ceremony is presented by Sisters VFW Post 8138 and American Legion Post 86.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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