Residents pay tribute on somber Memorial Day

SANDPOINT — Looking out over the battlefield, Lt. Col. John McCrae — a doctor in the Canadian military who saw action during World War I — couldn’t help but notice the devastation punctuated by bright red poppies.

“[McCrae] was moved, as he looked out over the battlefield, torn up by the bombs and the trenches, scattered with bodies and material with poppies scattered here and there,” Bryan Hult, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general and Bonner County Veterans Services officer, told those gathered for Memorial Day tributes in Sandpoint.

“You’ve heard the poem, ‘In Flanders Field’ many times. Remember it describes the crosses, row on row, and the short line, ‘brave and noble dead who lived short days ago.’ It was an exaltation to take up the battle and not break faith with those who died.”

From Bunker Hill to Baghdad, Hult reminded the three or four dozen gathered at both Pinecrest and Lakeview cemeteries Monday that men and women from every generation have stepped forward to ensure the freedom each person in this country enjoys today.

The crimson poppy — recalled in McCrae’s poem — an abundant sight across France, Belgium and The Netherlands where the medieval country of Flanders once stood has become a symbol of the remembrance for those servicemen and women and their sacrifices on our behalf, Hult said.

“I was speaking to veterans yesterday of those who served in combat in Vietnam, even watching the plane go down ahead of them as they were entering into country,” Hult said. “A very somber note for a day like today but each of you know a brother or a sister, aunt or uncle, nephew or niece, father or mother, grandfather, who put the uniform on and served our country — many who are no longer with us, because they made the ultimate sacrifice.”

In World War I, the United States lost over 116,000 servicemen on the field of combat and from disease. A short 23 years later, World War II saw the country lose 405,000 servicemen and women.

Hult told the story of the Sullivan brothers — Joe, Frank, Al, Madison and George — who all died aboard the USS Juneau after it was sunk by a Japanese submarine during World War II. Two years later, nearly 2,500 servicemen died on Normandy Beach, the most bloody day in American military history after the civil war, he said.

Just five years later, the nation sent its servicemen and women to Korea, where 54,000 paid the ultimate price in serving their country — 7,600 who remain unaccounted.

“The war lasted 38 months,” Hult told those gathered, many of who served their country in once branch of the service or another. “It ended on the 38th parallel and the 19 Korean War veteran statues at Washington, D.C., cast 38 shadows on the granite mural wall.”

Six years after the Korean War, the Vietnam War began — and the U.S. would lose more than 58,000 of its servicemen and women— including 900 who died on the first day they were in the combat field and 1,400 on the day before they were scheduled to go home.

There are the 64 graduates from Philadelphia’s Thomas A. Edison High School who died serving their country — the most from any high school in the United States. There are the 400 in Desert Storm, the 6,900 in the Global War on Terror, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn.

“But those wars don’t mention the 50 other crisis servicemen and women gave their lives so we could have parades, picnics and barbecues,” Hult told the somber crowd. “How should all this affect you? Yes, I know that you are here because you are humbled by their death and that you want to honor their sacrifice so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy but how should this affect you? “

Hult then read, “In Flanders Field” followed by another poem, “We Shall Keep The Faith” by Moina Belle Michael, known as the “Poppy Lady” who was inspired by McCrae’s poem and helped lead the drive to make the red poppy a symbol of remembrance who gave their lives in service of their country.

“Just as communion remembers the death and victory of our great battle captain of history, so Memorial Day is set aside to remember the veterans who died on U.S. battlefields around the world,” Hult said. “So thank you for remembering this day. Thank you for remembering their stay, their stay in the battle that took their life, their stay in the uniform that removed life’s strife.”

Michael Trenholm, chaplain of the local Marine Corps League, who gave the invocation at both Sandpoint tributes, told those gathered that God has stood with the country through the wars and battles and he stands with the world today as it faces the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Lord, when Jesus was on earth, when he was with us, he healed the sick and every time, he would touch people and he would embrace them,” he said. “We need to get back to that in our country. We need to be able to communicate and touch our family members and our friends and shake hands. I pray for our country and I pray this thing will be over soon.”

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.