We owe them special thanks

The special Veteran’s section in last Wednesday’s Star newspaper was another reminder of the debt we owe to our servicemen and women.

They serve to protect the freedoms we so often take for granted.

Locally, the “Isle of Flags” program at Spring Canyon is one opportunity we experience each year where we honor and salute our veterans.

Again, around Veteran’s Day, The Star newspaper publishes a special section using pictures of local service personnel. It continues to grow each year.

While I was growing up in Palouse, Washington, veterans used to march on Memorial Day down Main Street and end up at the cemetery. Some tried to wear part or all of their old uniforms, and it was a day the whole community turned out for.

Later, when I used to travel, I had an opportunity to visit Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. It is a moving experience. Some 400,000 are buried there in the sprawling 624 acres; many, if not most, are veterans. It is truly hallowed ground. It touches you deep down to wander through the rows of headstones, reading the names.

A short distance away, I have visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall a couple of times. Just standing there, watching the visitors engage with the wall and the 55,000 names of those who died in the Vietnam War is a very moving moment. I searched the wall for the name of my cousin who was killed there and found it, after looking for about 20 minutes.

Whenever I have gone to Washington D.C., I always visit the Lincoln Memorial. As you climb the steps to enter the interior of the monument and read the words of the Gettysburg Address, you sense that you are on hallowed ground.

I also had the experience, some years later, to visit the cemetery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, of some 6,800 military personnel who died while working on what is known as the “death railway.” We know it as the “Bridge over the River Kwai.”

The movie that made the location popular ran last week on television.

The movie people took certain liberties in the film. The famous bridge was not located in the beautiful mountain area, but rather in a pretty unassuming flat area, and is not so elevated as it was in the film.

The cemetery is primarily an English veteran cemetery, with a number of commonwealth country service personnel included, from places like India, Australia, and many other countries. There are even nearly 2,000 Dutch veterans buried there.

Most of the 6,800 buried there died of starvation, sickness, and injuries sustained while there.

Altogether, some 13,000 died while building the railway, which was a major supply system from Thailand to Burma for the Japanese during World War II. Many were buried along the rail line as they fell.

I didn’t learn if any Americans were buried there.

This cemetery is also hallowed ground, as are hundreds of national cemeteries scattered around the world.

To our veterans who gave their lives, and to the families that suffered as a result, we owe a special thanks.

And so to all our veterans, whether serving in harm’s way or not, thank you for your service. Our freedoms are more secure because of it.