FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. -- Members of the Fort Huachuca and local communities gathered to honor and pay tribute to men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military, Monday, Memorial Day at Fort Huachuca’s post cemetery.
During the ceremony, Brig. Gen. Gregg Potter, commanding general, U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence and Fort Huachuca, delivered the Memorial Day message, and along with Command Sgt. Maj. Todd Holiday, command sergeant major, USAICoE and FH, placed a wreath in honor of fallen service members.
The ceremony also featured the reading of the Headquarters Grand Army of the Republic, General Orders No. 11, by Francis MacDonnell, former Arizona department commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
For those in attendance, the ceremony served as a way to show patriotism in honor of fallen service members from all generations, as well as honor those who currently serve.
“My husband is buried her,e and he was a very patriotic man,” said Mirella Botts. “If I don’t come here, I feel that I betrayed him because I know this is what he would have done.”
“I’m a Soldier, and my father also served in the Vietnam War. I’m here to support those who have lost loved ones,” said Sgt. 1st Class Cassandra Harrison, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, USAICoE and FH.
“I’m here with my children so they can understand how blessed they have been. I actually deployed and came back. My father took part in the Vietnam War and came back. This is just to show them that others weren’t so fortunate; they need to count their blessings.”
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