Remembrance on Memorial Day Published May 30, 2010 By Command Chief Master Sgt. Ben Futrell 315th Airlift Wing CHARLESTON, SC -- Memorial Day is the day our nation has set aside to pay respect and remember those who gave their lives while serving their country. Three events in my life come to mind as this Memorial Day approaches. A few days prior to Memorial Day in 1971, the small town where I grew up received some somber news. One of its young men serving in Vietnam had been gravely wounded. This soldier's name was Hugh Sexton. I knew Hugh growing up. While he was several years older, in a small town everyone knows everyone. I watched Hugh play high school football. I attended the same church he attended. I watched him graduate from high school. I remember him joining the army at a time when others were avoiding the draft. Hugh was stationed at Fort Bragg and was airborne all the way. He had been in Vietnam for six months when while on patrol, a solder walking beside him stepped on a mine. Hearing the news was a shock to our community. Hugh came from a large and respected family. His father was a man that everyone looked up to. His mother and grandmother had been teachers in our school and had touched many lives. Hugh's father received permission to travel to Vietnam to see Hugh. He was the first civilian to ever visit the remote mobile army surgical unit where Hugh was being treated. He arrived shortly before Hugh died. Hugh Sexton's death was a somber reminder for our entire community. It affected his family forever. Not a family gathering, birthday or holiday goes by without them thinking of him and his smiling face. My second remembrance was my visit to the Luxembourg Cemetery and Memorial on Christmas Eve 2006. On this site are the graves of 5076 Americans that gave their lives in World War II, the majority in the Battle of the Bulge. Row upon row of neat white markers where each represents an American Soldier or Airman whose family and community also mourned their loss. At the front of the rows is the grave of Gen. George Patton. The only person buried there that did not die in battle. He is buried there to be with the troops he served with in battle, forever at the front. My third remembrance happened on Christmas day, 2008 while out flying with our aircrew on a mission into the war zone. We were departing from Al Udeid on Christmas morning heading west to Ramstein and as expected, we were pretty joyful. The mood turned somber when we were informed that we would be transporting one of our fallen warriors. A single flag draped casket and a duffle bag of effects. Army Cpl. Charles P. Gaffney Jr., Killed December 24, 2008, Organ-E Afghanistan. I could not stop thinking of a family being notified on Christmas Eve that their son, husband, father had been killed in action. I learned later that Corporal Gaffney was a 42 year old father of twin girls. He had been in the Army in the 80's and left it for civilian life. He said he was rejoining the Army not for himself, but for the mistreated women of Afghanistan, that he would never want anyone to come to this country and tell his daughters they had to do things a certain way. I read once that a nation will be judged by the way it honors those that give their lives in its service. As military members we have a sacred duty to honor those who have given their lives so that we might endure. Their legacy must live on. On this Memorial Day, pause and take the time to remember. Stay up to date with the 315th Airlift Wing at http://www.315aw.afrc.af.mil/. Follow the 315th on Facebook and Twitter.