Memorial Day means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
For some, it’s the beginning of summer and the time to liberate white shorts and tank tops. For others in Durango, it’s the culmination of months of training required to pedal a bicycle almost 50 miles over two mountain passes.
But for Brian Wright, an Ignacio native and sergeant with the United States Marine Corps who served two tours in Iraq, Memorial Day is about remembering comrades and friends who didn’t make it home.
“It’s very important – we can’t let their names be lost to time, they made the ultimate sacrifice,” Wright said. “We may not know them all, but we owe them all.”
People gathered in memory of the thousands of American military lives lost during past and present wars and conflicts Monday in Iris Park, at Greenmount Cemetery and along the Animas River Trail pedestrian bridge at Rotary Park.
Dozens laid roses at the base of the Vietnam Memorial in Iris Park in memory of Coloradans who died in service to their county. Those who stood in remembrance were given an opportunity to recognize anyone whose name was not read aloud by organizers or acknowledged by a rose at the base of the monument. A chorus of voices honored dozens who died and remained in the memories of those in attendance.
Parked cars lined the drive into Greenmount Cemetery, where at least 100 people gathered around a war memorial to honor those who died in all American wars. Terry Saxon, chaplain of American Legion Post No. 28 in Durango, and volunteers placed 1,150 American flags around the cemetery grounds honoring Coloradans who died in war.
“Attending commemorative ceremonies is the most visible way of demonstrating remembrance: Placing flags at gravesides, marching in parades. Whether done individually or collectively, it is the thought that counts,” Saxon said in a prepared speech. “Personal as well as public acts of remembering are the idea. Public displays of patriotism are essential if the notion of remembering war is to be instilled in the young.”
About a dozen people stood on the pedestrian bridge along the Animas River Trail near Rotary Park in honor of those who died on rivers or in oceans while serving in the U.S. military. Organizers dropped a wreath into the turbulent Animas River in commemoration of the fallen.
Murphy Rostker stood in Iris Park in honor of his father, who served in World War II. Moments like Monday morning, where people are recognized for giving their lives in service of their country, make “all the other wrinkles in life trivial,” Rostker said.
“I hope people recognize how permanent death is. You can’t go back,” Rostker said. “You’ve got to look forward and put things into perspective and realize what’s important and what’s not.”
bhauff@durangoherald.com
