“As we speak of the present and the distant past, it is up to us to make sure the legacy of our nation’s fallen is passed on from this generation to the next and then on to all generations beyond,” he said. “We must ensure that the youth of tomorrow have an awareness and understanding of whom it is they should likewise honor and exactly why they should honor them.”

The nation also has a responsibility and obligation to treat its veterans with respect and dignity and make sure they receive proper care and compensation for their injuries and illnesses connected to their military service, he said.

“The defenders of this nation fulfilled their duty and obligation to us, and we have an equal duty to honor and fulfill our obligations to them,” he said. “To do anything less is to betray the memory and the sacrifice of our dead.”

The nation’s destiny as a free people is entirely up to the people, according to Eiler.

“Let every deed and act of each of our days, be guided by the memory of those who gave their lives for our future freedoms,” Eiler said. “And may their sacrifice continue to inspire use and fill us with hope all the days of our lives.”

Monday’s ceremonies were preceded by a parade in Meadville from Terrace Street to Water Street to Chestnut Street to the Diamond.

Traditional ceremonial activities including readings of the “Gettysburg Address” and “Flanders Field”; salutes to fallen soldiers and sailors as well as playing of “Taps” and a rifle salute.

Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.

Related Memorial Day story that appeared in Monday's Tribune

By Ed Mailliard

meadville tribune

As a high school social studies teacher, Bob Matthews was surprised that so little textbook space was devoted to the Vietnam War. And as a veteran of that war, he decided to do something about it.

“The lessons students were learning about Vietnam were about a page and a half in their history books, and that just wasn’t good enough,” said the former Meadville Area Senior High School teacher. So, in the early 1990s, a decade after moving from Meadville to North Carolina, Matthews began shaping a new curriculum, Lessons of Vietnam, so high school students could study more than the few paragraphs and dates “his war” had become.