The Price Of Freedom Thousands Gather To Eulogize Nation’s War Dead

Never forget.

That message echoed through the graveyards of the Inland Northwest on Monday as thousands of residents gathered to eulogize the nation’s war dead, and in one case the country’s unborn, on Memorial Day.

From Spokane’s flag-draped Fairmount Memorial Park to flower-blanketed Coeur d’Alene Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery, speakers implored residents to remember the sacrifice made by those Americans who died in battle.

People like U.S. Army Sgt. Kenneth A. Schimanski, buried at Fairmount Memorial in September 1969 after dying in Vietnam at the age of 19.

And Bronson Jerome Mastne, a 19-year-old infantryman buried at Fairmount after being killed in Korea in 1952.

Or Paul Laurence who served in the Army’s 20th Engineers in World War I and was buried in Spokane in 1967 when he died at 73.

“Their memories will fill our land like a benediction,” said Dave Hamm, commandant of Spokane’s Marine Corps League in a ceremony at Fairmount. “We must honor our sacred heritage, purchased with their valor and sealed with their blood.”

Hamm implored people to pass that remembrance on to their children and to work for peace and justice.

“The generations to follow should never forget,” he said. “We must ensure that these honored dead did not die in vain.”

Memorial services were held throughout the Inland Northwest on Monday. In Coeur d’Alene, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig spoke at the Coeur d’Alene Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery. Services also were held at Forest Cemetery and at Veteran’s Park.

At Spokane’s Holy Cross Cemetery, nearly 200 people gathered to see the Memorial to Unborn Children unveiled in a brief service led by the Rev. William Skylstad, bishop of the Spokane Catholic Diocese.

The bronze statue created by artist Vincent De Felice depicts three cherubs escorting a sleeping infant toward heaven.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos

MEMO: Changed in the Spokane edition.