But it is also a time to remember the thousands and thousands of Americans who died so that their fellow Americans could have a free country in which to enjoy cookouts and races.

On Monday, some 200 people filled the amphitheater of Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park north of Fort Dodge to remember those fallen soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

“We do not forget,” said Mike Larson, a veteran who was the keynote speaker at the ceremony. “Whether it’s an hour ago or a century ago, we remember.”

The Memorial Day observance began with a half hour concert by the Karl L. King Municipal Band playing patriotic music. During a medley called “America’s Finest,” veterans stood and received thunderous applause as the band played the songs of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Air Force.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
The Honor Guard from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1856 prepares to fire a salute as the 2023 Memorial Day observance at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park concludes Monday morning.

Two of the original members of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight board were recognized by the Fort Dodge Veterans Council as Veterans of the Year.

Charlie Walker, an attorney, is an Army veteran who served in Saigon in South Vietnam. Mel Schroeder, who retired as vice president of instruction after a long career at Iowa Central Community College, is an Army veteran who served at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and in West Germany.

They helped Ron Newsum start the Honor Flight in 2010. Since then there have been 23 Honor Flight trips that have taken about 3,000 veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the nation’s war memorials.

In his remarks, Larson recalled the words of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, in which the president said the task of the living is “to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”

“Today we are the living,” Larson said, “and we are dedicated to continuing the work of those who have gone before us.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Charlie Walker, left, accepts the Veteran of the Year Award from Tom Dorsey, adjutant of American Legion Post 130, during Monday’s Memorial Day ceremony at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park. Walker is one of the original board members for the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight.

“So let us take time to remember and honor the men and women who have given their lives for this great country,” he added. “Let us reflect on their courage, their sacrifice and their dedication to a cause greater than themselves. And let us recommit ourselves to the cause of freedom, justice and democracy, so that the legacy of our fallen heroes will live on for generations to come.”

Navy veteran Marie Sheeder read a poem honoring those who died at sea.

Scott Johnston read a composition, entitled “How will you remember a soldier?” accompanied by the Karl King Municipal Band.

Johnston later returned to the podium to read the names of all 106 Webster County veterans who died since Memorial Day 2022.

The ceremony ended in traditional fashion, with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1856 Honor Guard firing a rifle salute. Taps was then played, with the last mournful note fading away to the accompaniment of flags snapping in the stiff breeze.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Mel Schroeder, of Fort Dodge, poses with the Veteran of the Year Award he received during Monday's Memorial Day observance at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park. Schroeder, an Army veteran, is one of the original members of the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight board.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1856 bring the American flag into the amphitheater at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park at the beginning of Monday's Memorial Day observance.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Mike Larsen, a veteran who is president of First Interstate Bank in Fort Dodge, speaks during the Memorial Day ceremony Monday at Terry Moehnke Veterans Memorial Park.