COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. — A Memorial Day ceremony presented by the Colonial Heights VFW and American Legion brought together soldiers, veterans and Gold Star families Monday to remember those who gave their lives in service to the United States.
Command Sergeant Major Nickea Harris Scott, a U.S. Army soldier with 24 years of service and three combat deployments, delivered the keynote address.
"It's about remembering the cost of freedom paid by ordinary Americans, doing extraordinary deeds for our freedom today," Harris Scott said.
For Harris Scott, Memorial Day is deeply personal. She carries the memory of six fellow soldiers, six friends, killed in combat on April 3, 2003.
"Twenty-three years of living with pain of a fallen battle buddy that you built that relationship with, that you became brothers with," Harris Scott said.
She said the day belongs not only to the fallen, but to the families they left behind.
"Today is not about just them. About also their families that's living through their burden of not seeing that loved one anymore," Harris Scott said. "I believe that as long as you say their name and represent them, that it will never fade."
Among those in attendance was Gold Star family member Joanne Duncan, whose brother, PFC Stuart Franklin Hemp, was killed in Vietnam on August 22, 1969, just 12 days after his 19th birthday. Hemp was awarded the Silver Star for saving the lives of two other Marines before being mortally wounded.
Duncan, who says she remembers learning about the loss of her brother like it was yesterday, the weight of loss does not lift when the holiday ends.
"Everyday is Memorial Day. Because you never forget," Duncan said. "It's been over 50 years since my brother was killed but it feels like yesterday. The hurt never goes away."
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