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Fallen service members honored during Memorial Day ceremony
Joe Barchesay came to the West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremony wearing a lanyard with a photo of himself at the age of 17 around his neck. That was how old Barchesay, now 97, was when he enlisted in the navy to serve in WWII.
“I lost a lot of my friends,” Barchesay said. “I’m here [at the Memorial Day Ceremony] for them. Not for myself, but for them.”
Barchesay was one of more than a 150 people who attended the Memorial Day Ceremony at the West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. Retired military officials, enlisted military officials and loved ones were presented with patriotic songs, customs including a 21 gun salute, and speeches as well as a performance by the Bartlett Community Band.
“These markers [in the cemetery] represent just some of the stories behind our freedom in America. Don’t let any of these stories be forgotten,” Ken Wells, a former captain in the United States Airforce, said. “Don’t let your own story of freedom and patriotism be forgotten. Pass it on to the next generation.
Wells was the guest speaker at the ceremony. In the 1970s, while serving, Wells was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a prisoner of war. While he was a prisoner for 466 days some were held longer so Wells called himself a “short timer.”
“About 75 percent of the men were there for about four and a half to eight and a half years,” Wells said. “Last week, in California, we celebrated our golden anniversary of release, with our 50 years of freedom reunion. Regardless of the amount of time spent in captivity, we all consider ourselves the fortunate ones who served in that war and were blessed to come home and live in America’s freedoms again. Over 58,000 Americans were not so fortunate and died in Southeast Asia. Including my wife’s brother, Rodney Dee Osborne.”
The number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War is twice the total number buried at the West Tennessee Cemetery, Wells said.
Rodney Shaw the Director of the West Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery, said the West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery is the largest state veterans cemetery in Tennessee and that it was the third busiest in the country.
“Today we gather to remember and honor the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives in service to our country,” Shaw said. “Memorial Day is a solemn occasion, a time to reflect on the cost of freedom and the debt we owe to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Throughout our history, countless individuals have stepped forward to defend our nation and its values. They have left behind families, friends and loved ones and have given everything that they have in service to a greater cause. They are hero’s, each and every one of them, and we are forever in their debt. On this Memorial Day we pay tribute to these brave men and women and we vow to honor their memory by carrying on their legacy, service and sacrifice.”
Wells shared the stories of the three people interred at the cemetery and shared his hopes for the future of the United States.
“The song God Bless America is really a prayer,” Wells said. “A prayer to the one who can truly help us, and bless us, as a nation. We have too many entities, mostly from within our own borders, dividing us and ripping our country apart right now. So when you walk through the markers and read a name, just remember, there’s a life story there of someone who served in our nations military for the sake of freedom. Our freedom.”
