After placing a wreath on the ground, Juanita Cole, American Legion Post 17 President, places her hand over her heart as she stares up at the American flag while her husband of 69 years, Tom Cole, left, looks on during a Memorial Day Ceremony at Claquato Cemetery in Adna on Monday morning.
Boy Scout Troop 373 member Elijah Henderson walks through Claquato Cemetery with American flags to mark the headstones of veterans on Monday morning in Adna.
Judah Holland, 5, sits atop the shoulders of his mother, Lindsi, during the Claquato Cemetery Veterans Day ceremony on Monday morning in Adna.
People gather around the American flag at Claquato Cemetery as the pay their respects to veterans in this May 2015 file photo.
A Boy Scout from Troop 373 walks through Claquato Cemetery with American flags to mark the headstones of veterans on Monday morning in Adna.
CLAQUATO — Jeff Hawkins worked as a hospital corpsman for the Navy in the early 1990s.
Throughout his four years of service, he saw three deaths. One was in combat. The other two were suicides.
The pastor and Chehalis resident said Memorial Day is a time to give thanks to those who died protecting America’s values, and also a day for remembering those who are plagued by the atrocities of war long after leaving the battlefield.
Observers listened to the message, and others, Monday morning at an annual ceremony at Claquato Cemetery outside of Adna.
Hawkins spoke of the more than 1.3 million American military members who have given their lives service of the country since 1775, noting that number does not include those who later commited suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
“A veteran is a person who wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to and including one's life, and there is no expiration date on that check,” Hawkins said, later adding that statistics show 22 veterans commit suicide each day. “We’re here this morning to pay tribute to those who died fighting for our country, but there are many discharged veterans who never left those battles. They are still losing those battles, and they are still dying.”
Hawkins said the senseless deaths that continue after bullets stop flying are unnecessary. He urged everyone to remain beside the dying and injured on the “battlefield of life,” just as one would not leave those on an actual battlefield.
“To those who have gone before us, we gather this morning to honor and thank you. And to those who are still fighting the battles in the war, both in uniform and out, may God richly bless you for your sacrificial love as you live out your purpose and the plan that he has called you to,” Hawkins said.
During the annual Memorial Day ceremony, a tradition spanning decades, more than a dozen wreaths were placed near the base of the flagpole to remember the veterans who lost their lives in battle.
Chip Duncan, director of the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis, led the ceremony, thanking veterans for their service.
“I don’t know about you, but that flag means a lot to me,” Duncan said. “It stands for freedom. It stands for the greatest country on this world.”
After leading those in attendance in prayer, and sharing a poem written by a Korean war chaplain, Duncan explained that Memorial Day is much more than a day to barbecue or a three-day weekend.
“(It’s) a day to remember the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our most precious asset we have in our country, which is freedom,” Duncan said.
The ceremony concluded with a gun salute and the playing of Taps. When the program ended, Boy Scouts, and members of other organizations, scoured the many graves at Claquato, placing a flag on veterans’ graves as a symbol of appreciation for their service.
