Photo By Brigida Sanchez | American flags, “dress right dress” were placed in front of the tombs of those who...... read more read more
Many attended the somber event; the Walla Walla High School ROTC Color Guard presented the colors, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla’s Districts Commander, Lt. Col. Damon A. Delarosa was the guest speaker. Lt. Col. Delarosa reminded the audience of the value of our loss.
"I can’t help but think about what the cost of Freedom has meant to this Country, its true treasure: its courageous sons and daughters. Approximately 620,000 Americans died in the Civil War, 116,000 in World War I, 405, 000 in World War II, 36,000 in Korea, 58,000 in Vietnam, and just shy of 8,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the Walla Walla District Commander noted solemnly.
Delarosa said, “We have lost a lot of Americans over the years and today is a great day to take a pause and to remember all those people.”
The commander also remembered a Classmate and a friend, Captain Dennis Pintour. "I met him my very first day at West Point. He and I were very dear friends. We went through Ranger School together and then we were sent in two different directions. I went to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii and he went to Fort Campbell, Kentucky.”
The commander paused and said, “Dennis, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq and it tore all of us apart. We all lost one of our closest and dearest friends. He left behind a family, and he was on his second tour in Iraq. It’s the reality of war and what the sacrifice means.”
The community filled the pews of that sacred place. They came inside in reverence and remembrance, on a beautiful Monday morning.
Trina Parrish, Commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 992, explained what she’d like for us all to remember.
“It’s that freedom.”
That freedom that we all pay the price for because war affects us all.
| Date Taken: | 05.28.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.31.2018 18:32 |
| Story ID: | 279103 |
| Location: | WALLA WALLA , WA, US |
| Hometown: | UMATILLA, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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