A time to honor and remember

Memorial Day is a time to remember.

It's a day of freedom from our usual workday, but more importantly, it's a day to stop and think about all of our freedoms and to honor those who have given their lives to keep those freedoms sacred.

For John Johnson, a Navy veteran of Vietnam, the day holds a special place in his heart. "I guess I never thought a lot about Memorial Day before, but now that I'm a veteran, I think a lot about it," he said. After serving three tours of duty there, Johnson said it bothers him that some people see the holiday as only a day off.

"I think there should be an observance, and I think people ought to participate. It's the veterans who fought for our freedoms."

For Johnson, thinking back on his time in Vietnam is painful. In fact, when asked to recall that decade spent overseas, he gets a far-off look in his eye. "I just can't talk about it," he said.

Since his discharge in September 1976, he spent time living in Hawaii, and moved back to Lima after suffering a stroke in 1998. While struggling to regain his strength from that, Johnson said he has been encouraged by the attitude he's noticed in the last few years from the public regarding veterans. "I have gotten a lot more thanks in the last 10 years than ever before."

Likewise, Bruce Patrick, a 23-year Army man and veteran of Iraq, has received a lot of kudos for his service to his country.

"I've had a few ‘thanks.' People used to offer to buy me things, but thanks is enough," he said, smiling.

Patrick is proud of his time in Iraq, and proud of what his service meant. "I felt we were doing some pretty meaningful things over there, and we were doing good stuff every day. Sadly, I don't see a lot of that in the news," he said.

Since returning home last year, Patrick said he's gotten a new perspective on what's important in life.

"I don't watch the news anymore. In fact, I don't watch much TV at all. I don't watch ‘American Idol,' or really any of those reality shows. That's not reality, and I know it."

Fortunately, most of the men Patrick served alongside returned home. "We went as a unit and we returned as a unit."

Yet this Memorial Day, he will remember a fellow soldier he met in Germany who did not make it home alive. "I don't know if you follow basketball, but there's a small school in North Carolina, Davidson College, and this guy went there. This year they had a pretty good run, and I wrote to their coach to tell him that my friend would have been happy with their season," Patrick said.

Honoring and remembering.

That's also what Madeline Farsht will do this Memorial Day as she takes flowers to lay on the grave of her husband Charles Farsht, a World War II veteran.

"He was in the Air Force for three years. We had been high school sweethearts, and we waited until he got out of the service to get married," she said. They were just a couple of years shy of their 60th wedding anniversary when he died.

Yet his service to our country is something Madeline will honor this holiday. "I will go to the cemetery as I've done since I was a little kid. We need to honor our veterans with flowers. We just can't forget what they've done for us."

Patrick plans to spend the day visiting an Army buddy. And Johnson said he'll probably spend the day with friends at the American Legion.

Honoring and remembering.

Kim Kincaid writes about the big and little things that involve area residents. If you have an item of interest, call her at 419-993-2059 or 800-686-9924. She can be reached by e-mail at kkincaid@limanews.com.