Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
By remembering sacrifice, we remember what sacrifice is for, retired Judge Bill Lewis said during Memorial Day ceremonies Monday.
“By remembering the sacrifice of others, we remember that there are things that deserve our sacrifice.”
Lewis was guest speaker at the annual Memorial Day service at Gilliland Cemetery. Veterans organizations also hosted a service at Crawfordsville Union Cemetery.
Some 651,000 people have died in battle in the history of the United States, Lewis said. Another half million died while serving in uniform during combat.
“One of the things we need to remember is that among that million plus there were rich and poor, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Chinese, etc.,” Lewis said. Even now, they serve this country in places like Iraq.
But the United States has more enemies than people.
“There is a clear and present danger, and that danger would be a society without values,” Lewis said. “Our children need to be wiser than we were, wiser than we are.… We need to learn from our mistakes,” while remembering the many successes this nation has had and emulating them.
Among such successes, Lewis talked about the Marshall Plan, something that the United States did not have to do. The United States did it anyway, improving the world.
The Marshall Plan grew out of an offer by the United States to provide up to $20 billion in relief to war-torn and winter-ravaged European countries. By 1953, more than $13 billion had been pumped into European economies, bringing them to their feet and helping the United States at the same time.
The United States also battles apathy.