GRAFTON, W.Va. — Those who gave their lives in combat were honored in the best way possible during Grafton’s 151st Memorial Day celebration, culminating with a ceremony at the Grafton National Cemetery Monday afternoon.
“If we want to truly honor our veterans, particularly those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, then we go out and we do one thing,” said Adjutant General James A. Hoyer, West Virginia National Guard. “We go out and we try to identify the things that bind this country together and the things that we have in common, and not the things that divide us.”
Hoyer served as the keynote speaker for Monday’s ceremony, advising those in attendance to think of two things when thinking of the American soldier — national treasure and love.
In his speech, Gen. Hoyer referred to the 2004 film “National Treasure,” in which the main character, portrayed by Nicholas Cage searches for a rumored treasure left behind by the country’s founding fathers.
“Our founding fathers that had masked these antiquities and wealth that were going to be the foundation for the sustainment of the new nation. They had it hidden away so it would be safe and secure,” Hoyer said.
Hoyer said part of that movie is true — that there is, in fact, a national treasure.
“It’s here and all across the country,” he said. “It’s in towns like Grafton or cities like New York. It’s all across our country. It’s the men and women and families who serve and sacrifice. It’s the individuals represented by these white headstones.”
Rather than having monetary value, as in the film, Hoyer suggests that love is the currency in which those national treasures are measured.
“Most people equate violence and force with military service, but I would tell you and I would content to you that the national treasure and the service of all of our veterans is based on love — love of God, love of country, love of family, love of community and love of each other,” he said. “That’s what drives the men and women who serve and the families who stand behind them.”
And by sharing that love with others, we can in turn, honor the sacrifice those soldiers made, Hoyer said.
“We go out and we spend a little bit of time, not just with a family member or a friend but someone we may not necessarily know well, and we just show one little bit of love,” he said. “I think that will truly honor the men and women that are represented across this nation by these white headstones and all the men and women who served in uniform and served our nation because the thing that led them, I believe, to their service is love.”
Prior to the ceremony, thousands lined the streets of downtown Grafton for the city’s 151st Memorial Day parade.
Eddie Shaw was one of many veterans in attendance of the parade, continuing to show his respect from his fallen comrades.
“It’s a pleasure, yes,” Shaw said. “It’s an honor to be here and to do this.”
Shaw spent three years in Germany while serving in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1961.
“I was supposed to come back to the states for six months, but the Berlin Crisis happened, so I got extended in Germany for all of my time in duty,” he said.
Looking through the crowds, Shaw spotted many youngsters to whom he wishes to pass along one message from his wartime experience.
“I didn’t really witness the bad stuff, but they need to respect our veterans think where their freedoms come from,” he said.
Morgantown resident Russ Trickett attended the parade with his daughter and son-in-law to honor the family’s loss in World War II.
“In World War II, my first cousin — he was Harold Trickett out of Wheeling — he got killed in that war in 1945, just as it was about over,” Trickett said.
Trickett said he visited his cousin’s grave Sunday and makes a point to honor his cousin’s memory whenever possible.
“That’s why I’m up here today, in respect of him and all of those at the National Cemetery here,” he said.
Luckily for the Trickett family, he said no one in the family has been involved in a war since.
Trickett himself missed involvement in the Korean War. At the age of 18, he, along with his classmates enlisted, but unlike many of those men ready for deployment, Trickett was just newly married.
“My wife got pregnant, and they deferred me. They didn’t want to pay a soldier and a wife. They didn’t want to pay a family man. They wanted young men,” he said. “I guess you might call it luck in one respect.”
While Memorial Day is an important one for the Trickett family, he suggests the day holds importance for everyone, whether you have a personal loss or not.
“Well it’s important to everybody to respect the service to keep this country free and keep it out of trouble,” he said.