Lubbock VFW honors M.I.A, Gold Star families
Memorial Day Service at Second Baptist Church Sunday
LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Lubbock Veterans of Foreign Wars and Second Baptist Church hosted a Memorial Day service on Sunday, honoring those who gave their lives for their country.
It’s an emotional weekend for the many families who have lost a loved one in war. The chairman of the Veterans Advisory Committee, Benny Guerrero, said this day is for everyone to honor those who were killed defending our freedoms.
“This Memorial Day is set aside for them, just to pause and reflect and say man, I’m free today. I can do the things that I can do because of these people that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms,” Guerrero said.
The VFW spent the evening honoring the fallen and the 81,000 brave men and women who are still missing in action. Guerrero said it was also about the families left behind.
“We bring Gold Star families, and we give Memorial Day a face and that’s just the most awesome thing we could do for the community is introduce them to the Gold Star family,” Guerrero said.
The director of the Texas State Veterans Cemetery Program, John Kelley, said Gold Star families are those who lost a child in war. He said it’s important to include them in services and appreciate what they’ve done.
“There’s also very much a thankful attitude and that they’re remembered and included in these kinds of services,” Kelley said.
Honoring the fallen doesn’t end after Memorial Day. Kelley is part of the team working to bring a veterans cemetery to Lubbock and provide a closer place for these families to remember their loved ones.
“There’s a lot of reasons for us to do this, very specifically there are 21,546 reasons and that is the veteran population in the Lubbock area,” Kelley said.
Guerrero is asking everyone for the rest of the weekend to not say happy Memorial Day and instead say have a blessed Memorial Day, because we are all blessed by those who fought for our freedoms.
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