I’ve often wondered over the years if Cleo Nordquist realized the impact she had on me (and many of her other students in her fifth and sixth grade classes) with her tireless work as an American Legion Auxiliary member during the annual poppy drive and poster contest. Through her commitment to the memory of those who served in World Wars I and II and Korea, she taught me the significance and importance of acts of commemoration in the service of memory. One historian quotes a famous poet, and asks: “What power will preserve what once was, if memory does not last?” He goes on to say, “The past does not vanish all at once; it dies slowly.
But the dead, if remembered, maintain their ground, and live among us.” In that case, memory is a beautiful gift of what a person or event in our lives meant to us. In many countries, the memory of those who served in the defense of that country is thrown away in unmarked mass graves and never spoken of again.
I have begun interviewing veterans for "Open Range," my TV show on BEK, as my way of remembering their sacrifice and contribution to the preservation of the freedoms I enjoy. A common theme I’ve heard from older veterans is the concern that younger vets (from Desert Storm on down) are not participating in organizations like the American Legion, VFW and AmVets in solidarity with those who consider this sacred ground. They believe that history, if not remembered and studied, is bound to repeat itself.
A case in point is the rece.
