The symbol of freedom so many died to defend

Each Friday before Memorial Day (if the weather permits) select students carefully place a personal flag on the final resting place of veterans at Anderson Cemetery in Stanwood.

It’s a touching moment seeing a young person kneel down to offer such a simple symbol of freedom that a veteran lost his/her life defending.

It is a silent – if not yet quite understood – thank you to a soldier, sailor, marine, or guardsman who may have died before these students were even born.

It may be a small gesture of remembrance on their part, but it is much larger than it appears.

It gives us all reason to pause and reflect as we pass by the cemetery over the holiday weekend about the men and women lost, and prompts many of us to pray for our military, especially those who deploy to perilous areas of the world.

So, to the veterans reading this, and to those brave men and women currently serving our country, thank you.

Thank you for knowing the risks and signing on the dotted line anyway.

We appreciate you.

– Kelly Ruhoff

Editor