While many take advantage of Memorial Day weekend by spending time outside and barbecuing, a few hundred people in Durango spent Monday at several ceremonies honoring those who have fallen in combat.
The day started earlier for a couple of volunteers who met at 7 a.m. to place memorial flags around Durango’s Main Avenue.
At 10 a.m., a ceremony has held at the Durango Vietnam Memorial at Iris Park, where Chris Meyer with the Vietnam Era Veterans Association reminded the crowd why many people have work off on Memorial Day.
“Memorial Day is a busy time in Durango,” Meyer said. “But this is the reason for the holiday ... The people we honor today live on in our memories.”
As per tradition, Meyer called out the names of Colorado military personnel who died during service within the last 16 years, mostly based in the Middle East.
As Meyer called out the approximately 40 names, people in the crowd placed roses at the base of the Vietnam Memorial statute, a “symbol and monument of the lives lost.” Those in attendance were then asked to call out the names of anyone they knew who died during service.
“The ceremony is meant to encourage participation,” Meyer said.
The seven-person honor guard then fired off a three-volley salute.
At 11 a.m., the crowd shifted to the Veterans Memorial at Greenmount Cemetery, where speakers with the American Legion, the Vietnam Veterans Association and the Durango Chapter of The Knights of Columbus spoke.
Susan Mann, Commander of the American Legion Post 28, said Memorial Day serves as an opportunity to be reminded of the “cost of war and the price for peace.”
She said it’s also important to keep in mind the military personnel who are currently in service, the “new generation of defenders.”
“As we honor the fallen heroes of the past, let us acknowledge the heroes of today,” Mann said. “And our responsibility to remember does not end on Memorial Day.”
Joe Colgan, a past Grand Knight with Council 1408, gave the crowd a short history of Memorial Day, pointing out that Monday marked the 149th celebration of the holiday, which began in 1868 as a way to remember lives lost in the Civil War.
The holiday used to be called “Decoration Day,” Colgan said, as people would decorate graves of military personnel with flowers and flags. Memorial Day was named a national holiday in 1971.
“The U.S. has a rich history and Memorial Days shows respect for those who died,” Colgan said.
Memorial Day events ended with a wreath ceremony at the Ninth Street Bridge, where members of the American Legion placed a wreath in the Animas River to honor those who died at sea.
An open house at the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion followed the events.
Memorial Day events were organized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion, The Vietnam Veterans Association, the Girl Scouts of America, the Durango Karate Club and other local volunteers.
