The 14th Annual Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony at UTM was held early this morning in Martin.
The crowd that gathered in front of the Hall-Moody Administration building quieted down as Cpt. Troy Shoemaker walked to the lectern to start the ceremony. After his welcome, the UTM Army ROTC Battalion conducted the presentation of the colors while Dr. Roberto Mancusi, UTM associate professor of Music, sang the National Anthem. Then Gerry Gallimore gave the Invocation and Chancellor Tom Rakes gave the university welcome. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Elliot was the guest speaker.
Elliot graduated from college in 1993 and worked in Fort Stewart Georgia for five years. He then left active service and started graduate school. He joined the National Guard in Kentucky. Over the next seven years he finished graduate school and was mobilized a few times. Later moving to Martin he began teaching at UTM. Since then he was mobilized a couple more times and is currently commanding a training battalion in Kentucky. He lives in Martin with his wife, Holly, and their two sons. Cannon is 6 years old and Connor is 18 months old.
Elliot’s speech included stories from his past. He talked about friends he had lost and the importance of those fighting for our freedom. He read a list of names of fallen soldiers from the 2nd Battalion 138 Field Artillery, which had been his unit for over a decade. He mentioned a solider that did not die in combat but had single handedly destroyed three enemy machine gun divisions and cleared the path for his company.
“When I met this man, he was a patient at the nursing home where my grandmother worked. He told me that after the enemy machine gunners had surrendered and he was able to put a stop to the situation, he found multiple bullet holes in his shirt. His watch had been shot off. He was unscathed, but what courage. What amazing courage,” Elliot said during his speech.
Elliot described the sacrifices that service members make for their country in a way that relates to everyone.
“Lawyers take an oath to support the Constitution. Truck drivers spend long periods of time away from their families. Coal miners do extremely dangerous work. Service members do all of these.”
There were several nods among the crowd from the veterans agreeing with this statement. After his speech, Shoemaker made the closing remarks followed by the Benediction given by Rodney Freed, UTM instructor of Communications. UTM Department of Public Safety and the Martin Police Department performed a gun salute. The UTM Army ROTC Battalion closed the ceremony by playing “Taps.”
After the ceremony, many went up to Elliot to thank him for his service to our country and for his speech. There were many teary eyes for those who had lost loved ones in the fight for our country. Memorial Day can have a different meaning for different people.
Teegan Kaiser, a girl from St. Louis was here with her boyfriend, Paul Hunter Jordan.
“Memorial Day means respect of our veterans and their service to our country. Being proud to be an American,” Kaiser said.
Jordan has been in the National Guard for the last three years.
“It means respecting those who came before us and those who gave their all, their lives, their time, and their service,” Jordan said.
To many Memorial Day is considered a day of remembrance.
James Copeland, UTM alumnus and classroom technologist, served in the Marines for seven years. He recently had a son, Lucas James Copeland, and lives in Martin with his family.
“I remember the men of my platoon at this time and I also remember the ones from previous wars that helped earn and pay for my freedom,” Copeland said.
Shoemaker began serving in the Marines right out of high school and spent four years in the Marine Corps. He left the Marine Corps. and went to college for a year. Once he realized he missed the military, he enlisted in the Army and has currently served 18 years. Shoemaker’s father served in the Air Force for over 25 years.
“What Memorial Day means to me is honoring those that have served before me and those who lay down their lives for our country. It’s an emotional time having lost friends in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s time to remember our veterans and those on active duty now,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker also reflected on the meaning of Memorial Day in his closing remarks at the end of the ceremony.
“As we reflect on Memorial Day, I would like to quote the late president Ronald Reagan’s words from his Memorial Day Speech given 31 May, 1982 at Arlington Nashville Cemetery. ‘The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we-in a less final, less heroic way-be willing to give up ourselves.’”
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Photo Credits: John Sellers
