Sisters remembers the fallen

With a new designation as a Purple Heart City, the people of Sisters gathered at Village Green Park on Memorial Day to honor those who have fallen in America's wars.

The solemn yet uplifting annual event is staged each year by Sisters VFW Post 8138 and American Legion Post 86 and includes a set of familiar rituals that honor the sacrifice of military personnel who paid the ultimate price. The Redmond High School Marine Jr. ROTC posted the colors; Chelsea Anttila's voice soared in the national anthem; Earl Schroeder led the Pledge of Allegiance; American Legion Chaplain Gordon Golden offered up a heartfelt invocation.

Sisters City Councilor Andrea Blum welcomed the many attendees seated in the park and announced the new Purple Heart City designation.

The keynote speaker was Karl Baldessari, Captain, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired). A veteran of drug interdiction and search and rescue mission in the Atlantic and Caribbean, he completed a 25-year career serving as Chief of Response for the 13th Coast Guard District, which has responsibility for all Coast Guard operations conducted in the Pacific Northwest.

Captain Baldessari urged the audience to be mindful of those who are serving in danger right now.

"For every one of us here today, there's somebody putting themselves in harm's way in support of their country and each other," he said.

For Baldessari, that is the very definition of heroism.

"Call me old-fashioned, but I don't consider actors and actresses or professional sports figures heroes," he said. Heroes, for him, are "ordinary people, separated by a single act - or perhaps a lifetime - of sacrifice."

The Coast Guard Captain reflected upon the nature of serving in an environment where "we literally held each others' lives in our hands."

In that kind of environment, politics, race, creed, economic status all fall into the background and become nearly meaningless. All that matters is the bond of trust between those who serve and seek to complete the mission.

Baldessari noted that the question is sometimes asked regarding the death of a servicemember: Was it worth it?

"Was it worth it is the wrong question for us to answer," he said. "Instead it should be our commitment to make it worth it."

That requires creating a society that is worthy of the sacrifice of the dead, where higher values are ascendant over petty concerns.

The observances were followed by a community barbecue, where all were invited to attend.