Speeches & Op-Eds
Memorial Day Remarks
Charge d’Affaires Brent Hardt
Clifton Memorial
May 28, 2007
The Honorable Charles Maynard, Minister of State for Culture, Ambassador Joseph, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Bishop Humes, President of the Bahamas Christian Council, the Honorable Kendall Wright, Commodore Scavella, other government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, Gloria Prosser and families of Patrol Squadron 23, Chief Petty Officer Brillhart, distinguished members of our military services, ladies and gentlemen: thank you all for coming today. And let me just say to our speakers, Gloria and Hope, Mr. Brillhart, and Minister Maynard, thank you for your truly inspiring words, that have touched our hearts this morning.
As I bring this event to a close, I would like to recognize Lt. Cmdr Delong Bonner and his staff for their outstanding work in organizing today’s events. I would also like to reiterate our appreciation to Dr. Tinker and the staff of the Office of Antiquities and Monuments. The United States is deply in your debt for your support in refurbishing and maintaining this monument.
In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln faced the challenge of honoring fallen heroes as he dedicated a cemetery. How does a nation honor its heroes? Lincoln offered an enduring answer: “We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”
No speech given, no monument built, no wreath laid can fully convey our gratitude for the sacrifice of men and women who have given everything for their country and their values. Nevertheless, I will endeavor this morning to put into words a measure of our gratitude.
This simple monument along this beautiful shoreline honors Patrol Squadron 23 and the ten sailors who gave their lives on May 7th, 1954. Today we remember them and return to this hallowed ground to thank them for their courage. And today we also pause to remember so many others throughout our history who sacrificed their lives defending liberty and justice.
America’s first Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30, 1868 to remember the soldiers who perished in our Civil War. Since that time we have honored members of our armed forces who have perished throughout the world during conflicts large and small, all making the supreme sacrifice to ensure that freedom and justice are not just words, but a reality for Americans and for all people suffering oppression and injustice.
Today we honor the families and friends of the fallen. When a soldier or sailor sacrifices his life to defend our nation, as did the men of Patrol Squadron 23, their families and friends bear a heavy and enduring burden. The families, too, are heroes, and their sacrifice is no small part of the courageous action required to defend our values and the greatness of our nation.
The sacrifices we recall are not America's alone. We recall today Private First Class Norman Darling, a Bahamian killed by a suicide bomber while serving the United States in Iraq. Mr. Darling's family is with us today. We salute you and assure you that Norman's sacrifice will not be forgotten. Like Private Darling, Bahamians have long shown their friendship, indeed their kinship, by supporting the United States in our efforts to defend liberty and by working with us and with other nations to this end. So it is fitting now to think, not only of this monument, but of the monument in the Garden of Remembrance off Parliament Square, and of the many Bahamians who have sacrificed in the cause of liberty.
President Bush made this point when he spoke at the 2002 Memorial Day commemorations in Normandy. He said: "On Memorial Day, America honors her own. Yet we also remember all the valiant young men and women from many allied nations…who shared in the struggle here and in the suffering. We remember the men and women who served and died alongside Americans in so many terrible battles on this continent and beyond."
Whatever personal connection you may have with the soldiers of the United States of America or the sailors of Patrol Squadron 23, there is one bond that we all share. We are unified in our purpose -- to protect our peoples, our values and our ways of life. Our mutual love of freedom will be tested again and again, as history has shown. But history has also shown us that the spirit -- the hearts, the souls of freedom-loving people everywhere -- will always prevail because of people like the sailors of Patrol Squadron 23 who have the courage of their convictions and are willing to act on those convictions.
So today, we honor those who died for the beliefs we hold dear, so that we can live in and enjoy freedom. We honor Private Darling. We honor the sailors of Patrol Squadron 23. We honor their families, and all the families of the fallen around the world, who bear the burden of courage. And, we honor all the soldiers, Bahamian and American, who willingly paid the ultimate price to give us the opportunity to be free.
Thank you and may God bless all those who have served and have sacrificed for the United States of America and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.