(Spirit Lake)– Wet conditions may have forced area Memorial Day programs indoors, but it certainly didn’t damper their meaning or importance. The program in Spirit Lake featured Colonel Galen Rosenboom Retired, U.S. Army Reserve who called on the hundreds in attendance to give proper thanks to those have served in the military in the past and present…(click here for comment.) “How do we as citizens of this world and of this country give them thanks? The only way I know of is to keep on marching, hold their standards up, to try to be worthy in a small part of what they have done for us.”
Colonel Rosenboom also called on foreign countries where fallen American soldiers have been laid to rest to remember them as well…(click here for comment.) “All we ask of these countries is the land upon which these, beneath these lie, these men and women who shed their blood on that foreign soil that the world might have peace. And I would ask these descenders who rally against us: how many of your people have shed their blood on the soil of the United States of America and are inturned here. How many? And you know the answer as well as I do. Zilch.”
Colonel Rosenboom also called on everyone to reflect on the sacrifices those in the military have given in the past and are giving now so we can remain free…(click here for comment.) “What have you done extra because they sacrificed so much? I sit comfortably in my home. I read the news, and so what? I’m ashamed of myself. I hope in a small way, you too are ashamed of your complacity.”
And he called on everyone to remember those veterans, especially those who are wounded, when they come back home…(click here for comment.) “The Wounded Warrior Project comes to mind as a wonderful entity for us to help them. But why should that be when we have a government that can pass laws, tweak the budget, and ignore one of the most valuable assets that we have?”
The Grand Marshall for this year’s Memorial Day Parade in Spirit Lake, which had to be canceled due to the weather, was longtime resident Reed Potter.
