Bob Godfrey

Memorial Day is a solemn day. As Lincoln said, dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg, it is a day we remember "that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion."

General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, created the first Memorial Day on May 30, 1868, "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land."

Today, after the pandemic break, we in Danbury renew our dedication with a parade down Main Street and ceremonies in the Rose Garden in Roger's Park.

As a Navy veteran, I join in that renewal. We renew our remembrances, in Lincoln's words, "for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live." 

We renew our pledge to our flag and "to the republic for which it stands." And "we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."