Modesto salutes military fallen at Memorial Day observance in Acacia cemetery
Patriotic music and words of gratitude and respect filled the air on a beautiful and breezy Memorial Day morning at Acacia Memorial Park in Modesto on Monday.
Speakers expressed deep understanding of the sacrifices made not only by the military service members who have given their lives in conflicts over the course of this nation’s 250 years, but for the loved ones left behind.
Modesto Chief of Police Brandon Gillespie urged attendees to remember family members whose lives were forever changed by a knock at the door. “Memorial Day is simply not the beginning of summer, nor is it another long three-day weekend. It’s a day of remembrance, a day where we pause, reflect and honor those who never made it home.”
Lt. Brock Condit of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office also was among those who addressed the crowd at the Scenic Drive cemetery. Those who died in service to their nation, he said, “gave all to protect the freedoms that were bestowed upon us through the fight by our forefathers against persecution and tyranny so many years ago.”
They were “men and women who left sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters and friends to answer the call,” he said.
After delivering his own remakes, Modesto Councilmember Jeremiah Williams asked for a moment of silence, which he followed by singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.”
Several other patriotic numbers were performed by the MusiCadets Alumni Band, and the program closed with a rifle salute by VFW Post 3199, the playing of tps and the lowering of the memorial park’s flag to half-staff.
