Under a brilliant sky and a giant billowing flag, Maj. Gen Bradley Becker completed one of his last official acts as Fort Jackson commander, remembering on Memorial Day those who gave "the last full measure of devotion."
About 1,000 Soldiers and veterans, Gold Star mothers and civilians -- many dressed in red, white and blue -- sat silently on folding chairs on the damp grass of the Fort Jackson National Cemetery to join in paying their respects in a ceremony whose origins date back more than a century. The first Memorial Day -- then called Decoration Day -- honored those who died in the Civil War.
"For those of us who serve, Memorial Day (is) about remembering our nation's heroes," Becker said -- "our fathers and sons, our mothers and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our friends and neighbors.
"Their headstones are found in virtually every country around the world."
The day wasn't only a look to the past, Becker reminded the crowd, but a charge to carry out the dreams of the fallen and to aid the Soldiers of today, who are "willing to risk everything so that we can live in freedom."
When Becker finished speaking, seven Soldiers of the Fort Jackson Honor Platoon fired three volleys into the air -- the historical signal to remove the dead from a battlefield.
What followed were a stirringly tremulous rendition of "Taps" by trumpeter Spc. Brian Eib and a mournful "Amazing Grace" by bagpiper Spc. William Hill, both of the 282nd Army Band.
When the ceremony had ended, crowd members examined the wreath Becker had placed beneath a flag lowered to half-staff, pulled aside dignitaries for chats and explained to their children what they had just seen. Others visited the nearby ranks of tombstones.
After a series of post ceremony broadcast interviews, Becker said his staff had given him the opportunity to opt out of the ceremony as he prepared for his change of command and a move to Washington, D.C., where he will perform similar ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Do you want to do this?" Becker said his staff asked him.
He answered: "Absolutely, I want to do this. It's an honor.
"This is going to be my last ceremony. This is a great day to be a part of."
Former post commander retired Maj. Gen. Abraham Turner was among the crowd.
"Every year, wherever I am, I go to a Memorial Day ceremony," he said. "We have a price to pay (to the fallen), and that's to come to a Memorial Day service."
Frederick Washington of Columbia, who retired as a specialist after "20 years, six months and 28 days" with the Army, said he knew a lot of the men lying beneath the neighboring gravestones.
"As Vietnam veterans get older, they get more drawn to these things," he said. "It helps -- for me, it helps" to come to such ceremonies and be able to talk to others who have shared the experience of war.
In the nearby cemetery, Chris Vinson sat cross-legged in the grass, quietly keeping his deceased son company. Spc. Christopher Thiele died in 2013, after a tour of Iraq in which he had "seen a lot of bad stuff."
"He loved his country," Vinson said of his son. "He wanted to serve.
"He was a good fella."
Social Sharing