More than 50 people braved a chilly wind and cloudy skies at Rowe Cemetery near Hedley Monday morning as a native son of Donley County returned to honor the sacrifices of America’s fighting men and women.
Randall County Judge Ernie Houdashell delivered the keynote address for the morning.
“This cemetery is full of veterans and friends who served in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam,” said Houdashell, who is a native of Hedley.
The judge recognized Hedley’s Johnny Hoggatt, who has served in the War on Terror, and said that the fight for freedom will always continue.
“We’re engaged in a different type of war today,” Houdashell said. “It was something that most of us couldn’t understand would happen here until 9-11.”
He spoke of freedom being worth fighting for and recalled his own service to America.
“In 1966, I took with me the clothes on my back and a Bible when I joined the Army,” he said. “I also took a value system with me from Hedley, and it has stayed with me.”
Houdashell closed by reciting a narrative he wrote in 1991 entitled “Don’t Weep For Me,” which discusses the sacrifices of the American soldier over the centuries.
“Being a true American means believing in freedom at all costs and accepting the fact that freedom is never free,” he read. “A true American will never believe that freedom can never be taken away. A true American is a person that will preserve freedom at all costs, anywhere, anytime.”
Monday’s ceremony was hosted by the Adamson-Lane Post 287 of the American Legion. Post Commander Jack Moreman welcomed those in attendance and said that approximately 200 flags had been placed on the graves of veterans this year.
Connie DeBord gave the invocation, and J.D. Skaggs and Doyle Messer posted the colors. Tommie Saye led the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Hedley School Choir sang the National Anthem as well as two patriotic melodies. The service was closed with the playing of “Taps.”
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