WEBVTT

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- Hello, I'm Colonel Sean Riley,

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Commander of the 102nd
Intelligence Surveillance

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and Reconnaissance Group,
and I wanted to take

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a couple minutes to talk
to you about my thoughts

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on Memorial Day 2020.

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So normally Memorial
Day would invoke visions

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of a long holiday weekend,
large outdoor gatherings,

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and certainly plenty of
traffic coming on to the Cape,

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as we get ready to kick off

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the unofficial start of the summer season.

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Personally, I had been looking forward

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to watching my son
graduate from high school,

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walking across the stage
in his cap and gown,

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and then just having a really big party

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with family and friends to
celebrate his accomplishment.

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So Memorial Day, 2020 will
be decidedly different

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as we cope with COVID-19,
and there probably won't be

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any large parades and
there won't be any speeches

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read on town greens or large gatherings,

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but that doesn't mean we still can't honor

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the true intent of Memorial Day.

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Memorial Day goes back to
just after the Civil War,

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when people started laying flowers

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on soldiers graves in the spring.

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This became officially
known as Decoration Day,

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and evolved over time into Memorial Day,

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and was made official by Congress in 1971,

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when they made it a federal holiday.

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So while you're celebrating
a quieter Memorial Day,

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being safer at home, you can
reflect on the true purpose

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of Memorial Day, which is really to honor

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the men and women of the armed services

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that paid the ultimate price.

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I'd like to kinda share
a poem by Kelly Strong

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that will really amplify
the meaning of Memorial Day.

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"I watched the flag pass by one day,

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"It fluttered in the breeze,

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"A young Marine saluted it,

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"And then he stood at ease.

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"I looked at him in uniform,

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"So young, so tall, so proud;

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"With hair cut square and eyes alert,

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"He'd stand out in any crowd.

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"I thought, how many men like him

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"Had fallen through the years?

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"How many died on foreign soil?

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"How many mothers' tears?

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"How many pilots' planes shot down?

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"How many died at sea?

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"How many foxholes were soldiers graves?

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"No, freedom is not Free.

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"I heard the sound of Taps one night,

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"When everything was still;

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"I listened to the bugler play,

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"And felt a sudden chill;

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"I wondered just how many times

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"That Taps had meant Amen.

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"When a flag had draped a coffin

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"Of a brother or a friend;

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"I thought of all the children,

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"Of the mothers and the wives,

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"Of fathers, sons and husbands.

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"With interrupted lives.

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"I thought about a graveyard

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"At the bottom of the sea,

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"Of unmarked graves in Arlington.

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"No, freedom is not Free!"

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So in closing, I'd really
like to thank all the airmen

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and soldiers across the
Mass National Guard,

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that have provided COVID support

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to the Commonwealth for over two months.

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I'd also like to thank
all the men and women

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of the 102nd ISR Group that
have continued to support

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critical operations across the world

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during a global pandemic.

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All of you, your dedication
to duty is truly inspiring,

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and to all please have to
healthy and happy Memorial Day.

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Take care and stay safe, thank you.