Pete Wikul was a Navy SEAL for 38 years and retired in 2009. He regularly shops at Nature’s Temptations for all his organic food and personal product needs. He also generously donates to the Ridgefield Food Pantry through our market so that others in the community that are on a restricted income can enjoy organic fruits, vegetables, meats, vitamins, etc.
The entire Nature’s Temptations family has been touched by Pete’s kindness and recently he shared with us a Memorial Day speech that he wrote in 2015 about the true meaning of Memorial Day.
Please take a moment to read, reflect and share his insightful words from someone who knows all too well the importance of Memorial Day.
Memorial Day Speech 2015 Pachaug Cemetary, Griswold, Connecticut
Say a prayer, shed a tear, toast our fallen heroes.
Say a prayer, shed a tear, toast our fallen heroes.
Say a prayer, shed a tear, toast our fallen heroes.
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance.
It is a solemn day we Americans commemorate those who were killed on the field of battle, on the sea, or in the air. It is also a day of remembrance for those who died in uniform protecting our great nation in peacetime between wars.
Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day. This started within a few years after the American Civil War, where Americans fought Americans for over four years. American veterans from the US Army and the Confederacy began formally decorating the graves of the war dead with flowers to honor their sacrifice and memory. Sometime in 1882, people began calling Decoration Day, Memorial Day. Then in 1971, Congress enacted the National Holiday Act of 1971, formally establishing Memorial Day as a national holiday of remembrance.
Memorial Day is not a day intended to be a happy day of celebration. I often hear people greeting each other and veterans on this day with “Happy Memorial Day.” Veterans are uncomfortable with this. Maybe the best thing to say is:
“Good to see you this Memorial Day.”
Memorial Day is not Veterans Day. Many people will tell a veteran or an active duty service person, “Thank you for your service.” We veterans and the active duty are uncomfortable with this. We know it is well-intentioned, but get kind of uneasy. Why you ask? Because we know those buried beneath us have made the ultimate sacrifice and we have not. It “is” their day, not ours.
Best just to say, “Good Morning, good to see you this Memorial Day.”
“Good to see you this Memorial Day”, you say. Yes, it “is” good to see you this Memorial Day because we are “together”, we Americans, we veterans, we active duty, and we citizens, yes we are all together remembering and honoring the memory those who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their life for us in the defense of our great nation, in the defense of our Declaration of Independence, in defense of our Constitution, of our Bill of Rights, our land, and our way of life.
Memorial Day is really not the day to go shopping to buy things, we can do that another day. Memorial day is not just another three-day holiday, we have lots of them on our calendar. Memorial day is not just the beginning of summer for family picnics and barbecues.
Memorial is a solemn day. It is a day to:
“Say a prayer, shed a tear, and toast our fallen heroes.”
It’s OK to have a family barbecue today, the fallen would want us to….just take a moment to:
“Say a prayer, shed a tear, and toast our fallen heroes.”
Reflect and teach your children that freedom is not free. It has a price. That price is blood. It is national treasure. For how do we console or thank a Gold Star Mother for the life of her son or daughter. We cannot. We can only:
Say a prayer, shed a tear, and toast a fallen hero.
I’ll conclude with a short story. It’s about a fallen Navy SEAL, Michael Monsoor. On September 29, 2006, Michael and other SEALs were fighting from a rooftop in Ramadi, Iraq, when an insurgent threw a grenade at them. Now Michael had already many times proven his bravery and courage by being awarded a Bronze Star Medal with V for Valor and a Silver Star Medal. What did Michael do? He fell on the grenade and absorbed the explosion saving the life of his teammates. He lived another 30 minutes before he died. Michael made the ultimate sacrifice and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Michael’s action was above and beyond the call of duty.
A few years later, after a Navy SEAL Foundation dinner, there was an after-party. Michael’s Gold Star Mother, Sally Ann, ordered a round of tequila for all the SEALs there and there were many. We toasted our fallen comrade and we all hugged and kissed Michael’s Mom. I carry a coin commemorating his service. So today at my barbecue, for Michael, and all my fallen comrades, those I never knew, I will simply:
“Say a prayer, shed a tear, and toast my fallen heroes.”
Thank you all for honoring our fallen heroes today. May God bless you, may God bless our great nation, and it is “Good to see you this Memorial Day.”
Penned by Captain Peter I. Wikul, U.S. Navy (Retired)