Hello brothers and sisters,

Today we celebrate Memorial Day, as well as the beginning of summer and hopefully the end of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Let us not forget those men and women of our Nation’s Armed Forces who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us all.

Going back to our beginnings of the Revolutionary War up to the present with the War on Terror,  1,196,991 of our service members have been lost in service for our country (Department of Veterans Affairs “America’s Wars, Nov 2020) (US Department of Defense, May 2021). On top of that has estimated that 1,430,290 service members have been wounded in that time frame and countless Americans have succumbed to their wounds both physical and psychological after the conflicts ended.

For me personally, it was three weeks ago today that marked 53 years of the date, May, 10th 1968, of my father’s untimely death in the jungles of South Vietnam. The timing around Mother’s Day has always created some mixed emotions for me and my family.

Looking back at history Memorial Day’s origins come from the end of the Civil War and at first was declared Decoration Day on the 30^th of May 1868. It became a national holiday officially in 1971. 

Please join me in honoring all of our Nation’s fallen service members and their sacrifices as celebrate this weekend and the beginning of the summer season.

Fraternally

William C. Sproule

Executive Secretary-Treasurer