Friday, Jul. 11, 2008

Memorial Day Honors Fallen Soldiers

By John English

Contributing Writer

For Memorial Day this year, the Flower Mound High School JROTC, Cub Scout Pack 290 and Boy Scout Troop 451 will combine to mark the graves at three cemeteries with American flags: the Flower Mound Cemetery, the Shiloh Cemetery and the Chinn Chapel Cemetery.

"Memorial Day is quite a bit different than Veterans Day," noted Gil Brown, a Flower Mound resident and Vietnam War veteran. "Veterans Day honors all veterans, whether they are alive or dead. Memorial Day is set up to honor the memory of those who have died in our country’s service. I would like to see more of a focus to what the holiday is really about. I would like to see people buying some American flags and decorating those graves of those fallen soldiers that they know of … and honor the sacrifices they made."

Monty Slough, a sergeant with the 63rd Infantry Platoon Combat Trackers, financed the construction of a memorial wall that lists the names and ranks of all Denton County fallen soldiers from Operation Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The wall made a tour earlier this year of all of the communities in Denton County.

"I’m a Vietnam vet, and a lot of people forgot us," Slough said in a previous interview. "These young men and ladies go into the service, and they give their all. Some of them pay the ultimate price .... The people that are on my wall paid the ultimate price."

For another local veteran, the holiday has taken on an especially significant meaning. In a 2006 interview, Matthew Evans of Argyle, who was attached to the 17th Infantry, Company K, 3rd Battalion in Korea and received the Purple Heart in 1951, said the holiday serves as a difficult reminder of what some have sacrificed for their country. Evans said his squad led the company in an attack on the 1st Chinese Army during the Korean War.

"I ... have two Purple Hearts, but I was hit three times," Evans said. "When we hit the Chinese … we were firing, and about that time they started throwing grenades. It happened so fast — a buddy of mine started throwing grenades back off of us. There was no telling how many he threw off of us, until he picked up one that was too hot and it blew his arm off."

Evans said he remembers his friend every Memorial Day.

"I just had a lot of buddies," Evans said, becoming emotional. "I was in a foxhole with my friend Terry, and he was killed. Something like that just tears you up. I take this holiday very seriously now. I belong to the Purple Heart Association of Denton, and I believe it is important that everyone remember the sacrifices our soldiers have made."

The largest event in the area this year will be on May 31 in Keller, "A Salute to Our Troops," at KellerFest, which has a military theme this year. It will include a flyover of F-18s, static displays of combat helicopters, a parachute jump, a visit by 250 troops from Ft. Hood, courtesy of American Airlines, and another visit by 100 injured troops from Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

The event will feature speeches by four recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Activities for this event begin on May 31 at 4:30 p.m. with the flyover, at Keller Town Center, 1100 Bear Creek Parkway, which is near the intersection of FM 1709 and Rufe Snow Road.

For more information on this event, and on KellerFest, which runs between May 30 and June 1, see www.kellerfest.com, or call 817-431-2169.