{"id":48635,"date":"2019-05-27T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T17:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/the-ultimate-sacrifice-locals-pay-their-respects-at-evergreen-cemetery\/"},"modified":"2019-05-27T17:44:38","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T01:44:38","slug":"the-ultimate-sacrifice-locals-pay-their-respects-at-evergreen-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/the-ultimate-sacrifice-locals-pay-their-respects-at-evergreen-cemetery\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The ultimate sacrifice’: Locals pay their respects at Evergreen Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t

Jim Asper was misty eyed and kneeling when he introduced 1-year-old Jim Reeder to the boy’s great-grandfather, Linn William Asper.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

The two Jims were among those in attendance Monday morning at a Memorial Day ceremony hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Taku Post 5559 at Evergreen Cemetery. It was the first time Reeder paid a Memorial Day visit to his late, great-grandfather, who was an officer in the Navy during WWII.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“There’s great-grandfather,” Jim Asper said and pointed toward a marker honoring his father who passed in ‘91.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

[Ancient Threads: Weaver will learn how to create increasingly rare tunics<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

He and his wife, Bridget Smith, came carrying a bouquet of flowers to decorate the grave and found a wreath had already been placed by an unknown party.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Jim Asper, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard, said he was moved by the gesture and said visiting his father is always stirring.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“It means memories of my parents,” Asper said. “They were very good people to me.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Remembering late servicemen and women is the precise purpose of the annual ceremony and the national holiday, said VFW Quartermaster Dan McCrummen.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“It’s just an opportunity to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” McCrummen said.<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/a>

Attendees bow their heads during prayer at a Memorial Day Ceremony held at Evergreen Cemetery, Monday, May 27. (Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t

The sunny ceremony drew a crowd numbering in the hundreds, which Coast Guard Capt. Melissa Rivera, Chief of Staff for the 17th District, said was good to see. Rivera said it’s never certain whether a gorgeous day will result in increased or decreased attendance.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

She delivered brief remarks during the roughly 30-minute ceremony, which also featured a benediction, presentation of two wreaths and a performance of “Taps” by Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé sophomore Sam Marnon.<\/p>\n

\"Coast<\/a>

Coast Guard Capt. Melissa Rivera, Chief of Staff for the 17th District, speaks during a Memorial Day Ceremony held at Evergreen Cemetery, Monday, May 27. (Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t

“This day is a day of both gratitude and grief — remembering our heroes and reflecting on their tragic loss,” Rivera said. “There is nothing more noble than a man or woman who willingly steps toward danger and risks everything for their fellow countrymen.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

[Pomp and different circumstances: Three very different high schoolers talk before graduation day<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

During her speech, Rivera acknowledged that for many Memorial Day is a day off work and a chance to enjoy a cook out with family or another leisurely pursuit.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

Rivera said that too fits with the spirit of the holiday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

“These are exactly the things that we have fought for,” Rivera said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\u2022 Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.<\/b><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

<\/p>\n\t\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remembrance and recreation are both what the day is all about. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":474,"featured_media":48636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":9,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-48635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/474"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48635"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=48635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}