Monday, May 28 at 8:30 am, Municipal Center, 1520 Avenue K. Plano, TX
Remarks by COLONEL JOHN F. ANTAL, US ARMY (Retired)
Memorial Day, Plano, Texas, 28 May 2007
Thank you Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Magnuson for that kind introduction …. Congressman Johnson, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans and Texans.
First, let me ask …. How many of you out there are veterans? Thank you for your service to the Nation. Please, give these great Americans a round of applause.
Last week on May 19, the Nation celebrated Armed Forces Day. This is the day where we thank all those who have served in the Armed forces of the United States. Veterans, I thank you for your selfless service.
Today, however, is Memorial Day and it is a solemn celebration of freedom.
Today …. We remember.
This is the day we memorialize those veterans – the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines -- who paid the ultimate sacrifice and died in combat protecting us and what we hold sacred.
The fact of this world is that Freedom – the freedom that we have today -- is only one generation away from extinction. Freedom survives only if each generation is willing to defend it.
Think about it….. think about the great gift we share…. The freedoms and individual liberties we have.
In the history of the world this degree of freedom is unique.
Most people in history lived without the rule of law…. Without the freedom to worship as they choose … without the individual liberties we are accustomed to…. Without the idea that it is merit that counts, not what class you were born to or what tribe you belong to.
Think about it. Would any of you wish to trade places with any other people in any other generation and choose to live under dictatorship, oligarchy or State sponsored theocracy?
Look around you. The freedom that we take for granted is not free. It was purchased with the blood of men and women who stood for the ideals of our Constitution.
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Marines who answered the call of duty …. and did not waiver.
These are the people we honor today – the people who wore the uniform of our country and who lived and died for something greater than self.
Selfless service. It is not meaningless to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines serving today…. And it was not meaningless in times past.
From the Revolutionary war in 1775, to the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the long years of the Cold War, Desert Storm, today’s fight in the Global War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan and on countless other battlefields, AMERICANs have stood for the Nation, fought and died, to secure the freedoms we enjoy today.
They met the test of character and lived and died for us.
We can learn a lot from history about the character required to sustain a nation. Luckily for the United States of America, we seem to have that type of character in abundance … as if it were part of an unyielding American spirit.
But those who paid the ultimate sacrifice were also people – a lot like you and me.
It is important, therefore that we remember them.
Let me tell you the story of two such Americans.
Corporal Jason L. Dunham was born on 10 November 1981 in Scio, New York. The date may seem insignificant to those who don't know its history. The ones who do know its significance celebrate this day - faithfully - each year. November 10th is the United States Marine Corps birthday... a birthday that Jason Dunham shares.
Scio is a small town with a population of 1900 people. It’s the kind of town where everyone knows your name... where values and respect still mean something. It was here, along a winding country road filled with rolling-meadows, and a swift moving creek, that Jason L. Dunham was brought into this world.
As you turn into the Dunham’s long driveway that leads to their house, the breeze catches a yellow ribbon tied to the mailbox and the story begins to unfold.
The further you drive; two flags adorn the front porch, an American flag and the United States Marine Corps flag. And both seem to play the same quiet song, and yet both stand tall for this fallen young man. There is a final reminder that Jason Dunham is no longer with us… a blue star in the front window has been replaced by a gold star, symbolizing the Dunham family loss.
On April 14, 2004, 3 days after Easter Sunday, Corporal Dunham was manning a checkpoint in Karabilah, Iraq, when an insurgent leapt from his car and began choking him. A scuffle ensued as two Marines approached to help. Reportedly, the last words from Corporal Dunham were, “No, No. Watch his hand.” Suddenly, the insurgent dropped a grenade. Corporal Dunham took off his Kevlar helmet, dropped to the ground, and covered the explosive as best he could.
The blast seriously wounded all 3 Marines. Eight days later, Corporal Jason L. Dunham died at Bethesda Naval Hospital from wounds he received in the incident. He was 22.
Corporal Dunham made the ultimate sacrifice, and in doing so saved the lives of his fellow Marines. Due to his actions on that fateful day, Corporal Dunham has been awarded the Medal of Honor.
Remember Corporal Dunham.
Like Corporal Dunham Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, United States Army, was a volunteer.
Paul was born on September 24, 1969, in El Paso, Texas. At the age of nine, his family moved to South Tampa, Florida, where he attended public schools. He enjoyed sports, liked cats, skateboarding, riding bicycles, and playing pranks with friends and his younger sister Lisa. He particularly enjoyed football, which instilled the importance of being part of a team and motivated his natural leadership abilities.
Upon graduating from High School in 1988, Paul Smith joined the Army. On that day he began living his dream...he was assigned to Germany, met and married his wife, Birgit, had two children, and was "doing what he was born to do.... Lead American Soldiers...."
In March 2003, Sgt. 1st Class Smith Kuwait was assigned to the Bravo Company, 11th Engineer Battalion of the US Army’s 3rd Infantry's Division that was ready to attack into Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Bravo Company crossed the border on March 19th and traveled more than 300 kilometers in the first 48 hours of the war as part of the lead company in support of Task Force 2-7 Infantry.
On 4 April 2003, Smith and his men were involved in a firefight with enemy forces near Baghdad International Airport.
On that day, Sergeant First Class Smith’s unit was violently attacked by a company-sized enemy force.
Outnumbered and realizing the vulnerability to his fellow Soldiers, Sergeant First Class Smith quickly organized a hasty defense consisting of two platoons of soldiers, one Bradley Fighting Vehicle and three armored personnel carriers.
As the fight developed, Sergeant First Class Smith braved hostile enemy fire to personally engage the enemy with hand grenades and anti-tank weapons, and organized the evacuation of three wounded soldiers from an armored personnel carrier that was struck by a rocket propelled grenade and a 60mm mortar round.
Fearing the enemy would overrun their defenses, Sergeant First Class Smith moved forward …. under withering enemy fire …. to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier.
In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded by enemy fire.
His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers.
For his extraordinary heroism and uncommon valor Sergeant First Class Smith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
We owe people like this -- our men and women in uniform – more than words can express.
In return, all they ask is that we remember them and cherish their sacrifice -- so thank you for remembering these brave Americans today and for coming here to pay tribute to their selfless sacrifice in this special celebration of freedom.
The next time you see a Soldier, sailor, airmen or Marine – at the airport or anywhere -- go up and shake their hand and tell them that you are proud of them. Never forget that they are putting themselves in harms way on our behalf.
And today…. of all days…. remember the heroes who have fallen in battle on our behalf.
Remember them…………….Remember them.
And count yourself lucky that we have such selfless people in our ranks.
Thank you.
God bless our troops and God Bless America.
Colonel John F. Antal, U.S. Army (Ret.)
