BY KEN FRANCIS STAFF WRITER
Memories.
That was the subject Maj. Steve Timm spoke about during the Memorial Day ceremony at the Clearwater American Legion Monday.
Timm, the pastor at Rejoice Lutheran Church in Clearwater, has served 15 years as a chaplain with the National Guard.
He served a combat tour in Iraq from in 2006-2007.
Timm said his memories come from different perspectives: as a citizen, as a soldier and as a man of God.
“This memory we celebrate this weekend is very personal to me. I served in Iraq 16 months, and during that time, the infantry battalion of about 700 soldiers I served with had six soldiers killed in action and 55 wounded, all near the city of Fallujah.”
He said Memorial Day has a special meaning, and it’s not about war.
“This weekend is not about celebrating this nation’s freedom. We have the Fourth of July for that.
We’re not here to celebrate all the wars our nation has won. We have other holidays for those things. We even have a holiday to honor all veterans.
We celebrate today a different kind of memory. Maybe celebrate isn’t even the right word. We honor a different kind of memory today.”
“Do you know why Memorial Day is honored in May? It’s partly for a very practical reason. It’s not because of any great war or battle we won on this date.
In fact, is was specifically chosen because there aren’t any great battles we won on this date.
It’s celebrated in May because May is the time when flowers bloom - flowers we can use to decorate graves.
Our calling on Memorial Day is first and foremost to remember the sacrifices of men and women who fought and died for this nation.
It’s a holy thing for me because of my faith tradition. It’s also a very personal thing to me because of my experience.
I have made a sacrifice to put on this uniform. In the 15 years I’ve been serving with the National Guard, I’ve missed three of my daughters birthdays and 12 Fathers Days.
But my sacrifice is pretty small compared to the men I think about on Memorial Day and the families that are never going to see their sons and daughters’ again on this earth.
I think of the names Brent Koch, Josh Hanson, Corey Rystad, Bryan Mcdonough, James Wosica and Greg Riewer.
Those six men were members of my battalion when I left for Iraq in March 2006.
They didn’t fly back with us. They flew back in a transfer case covered by a flag.
Every year on Memorial Day I think of those six men and I think about how I get to be home with my family for Memorial Day, and that there will always be an empty place at their table.”
Every American has the duty to remember them and thousands upon thousands of others who have made this sacrifice.
“Why is this memory so important? Why do we not just go out and have fun and have picnics and go to the lake and go to Memorial Day sales and not think about this sacrifice?
Duty.
Those of you who put on a uniform know what duty means. We owe something. We owe a service to something bigger than ourselves. We have a duty to remember. We owe it to those who sacrificed.”
