Windthorst Memorial Day ceremony remembers veterans throughout U.S. history

WINDTHORST, Texas (KAUZ) - Windthorst veterans, students and families gathered for a day of prayer, reflection and remembrance for Memorial Day in a ceremony that honored three hometown heroes who gave their lives in defense of America.

Leo Blake served and died in World War Two, Paul Himmels in Korea and Gary Johnston in Iraq.

This year’s Memorial Day marked the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe in World War Two, and the 50th anniversary of the end of American involvement in Vietnam.

Lieutenant Colonel Huff of Sheppard Air Force Base joined the proceedings to speak in his connection to Memorial Day and the importance of continuing that heritage.

“To me personally, I was humbled, honestly, to be here today. There’s a lot of of veterans here, especially the the ones memorialized today in these graveyards that have seen much worse times in their service than I have,” Huff said, adding, “But for, for me like I said in my speech, I talked to, you know, about my grandfather and and those veterans that came before me. So it’s an honor to even be in uniform and invited here today to capture some of that.”

VFW quartermaster David Teichman added that Memorial Day’s reminder should extend beyond just one day.

“Never forget to remember that this may be just one day that we commemorate and remember the veterans have fallen in battle, but every day we should remember them. Because of what we do in our lives, the freedoms we enjoy and everything that we do is all, is all a result of those select few that gave their lives in defense of our country and our values,” Teichman said.

Teichman said the responsibility of carrying those memories into America’s future falls on today’s youth.

“The younger generation, as you may have noticed, there were several youth that participated in our ceremony today. They’re the ones that are going to keep the the memory alive of our, of our veterans who have died in battle,” Teichman said. “They’re the ones that are going to keep Memorial Day going. So what I would tell the youth is don’t forget, remember, because if you forget then things are not going to go well.”