'Live Lives Worthy' of Ultimate Sacrifices Made, Speaker Urges on Memorial Day

As they have for 25 consecutive years, Moorestonians flocked to Monday to pay tribute to soldiers who died in military service.

Hundreds attended the Memorial Day ceremony, which was at once a solemn but uplifting occasion. Between patriotic songs, prayers and speeches of remembrance, adults and children alike waved American flags amid of sea of red, white and blue.

Those flags, said featured speaker Lt. Col. Christopher Miller, represent the love that members of the military have for this country—love that compelled some to paid the ultimate price in defense of it.

“Live lives worthy of the love they’ve given to us and the freedom they’ve ensured us,” urged Miller, a chaplain who has served with or in every military branch. “There simply is no greater love.”

State Sen. Diane Allen (R-7) said Americans should look toward the flag as a unifying force, and remind themselves daily of the blood spilt in defense of American freedoms and ideals. 

She recalled her father’s plans to return to Europe to mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day, which he had participated in as a soldier. When he died before the anniversary, Allen and her family made the trek anyway, traveling to Prague on the anniversary date.

Czechs clogged a parade route as U.S. soldiers passed by, hugging and kissing the soldiers and waving the American flag.

“They understood what our men and woman had done for really all of Europe,” Allen said. “They understood the importance of our flag.”

Moorestown’s Memorial Day commemoration was a true community affair. The Moorestown High School Band provided the musical interludes while leaders of township churches gave the invocation and benediction, and residents sang patriotic songs.

Boy Scouts from Troop 44 passed out flags to all who attended, as well as led the flag raising ceremony. Girl Scouts assisted during the honor roll call of Moorestown residents who died in military service. Moorestown resident Judith Young, former president of the American Gold Star Mothers, read off the names as the Girl Scouts added a flower per name to a memorial wreath.

By the time Young finished, flowers blanketed the wreath.

It’s vitally important for young Moorestonians to see the community honor the war dead together, said Carole McHale. She leads the Cub Scout Troop 44 and Brownies Troop 22067.

“It gives them a sense of occasion, but more than that, it shows them how to connect what’s going on in the world right now overseas,” McHale said.

The lesson, she added, is very personal for at least one Cub Scout. One of the Scouts is the son of Army Maj. John P. Pryor, who died on Christmas 2008 in a mortar round attack in Iraq.

“Some people have sacrificed everything,” McHale said. “We need to respect that.”