Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
On a wet, quiet Memorial Day afternoon on Monday, May 25, roughly 50 community members gathered at Yelm City Park to honor the nation’s fallen service members, joining in reflection and remembrance during the observance.
Mayor Joe DePinto addressed attendees with a speech that recognized the sacrifices of military personnel and the enduring cost of freedom. He also touched on the unique relationship between the City of Yelm and the United States military, given the close proximity between Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the city.
Additionally, numerous servicemembers call Yelm their home. The City of Yelm itself has been distinguished as a Purple Heart City for nearly a decade, with the designation becoming official in 2017.
Yelm became only the fourth city in Washington to receive status as a Purple Heart City, and boasts strong veteran support systems thanks to local organizations like VFW Post 5580 and American Legion Post 164.
You can learn more about the different services offered to veterans in Yelm, such as VA navigation, veteran service officer support, suicide prevention and more, visit ci.yelm.wa.us/community/our_military_community.php.
Prior to DePinto addressing attendees of the gathering, members of VFW Post 5580 Becki McGinnis and Jeffrey Holmes took to the microphone to speak about Memorial Day. McGinnis led a prayer and remembered those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, while Holmes remembered several of his friends who were killed in action. Specifically, Holmes honored Army Sgt. Chris Engeldrum — who was an M60 gunner in Holmes’ infantry platoon in the 82nd Airborne Division. After Desert Storm, Engeldrum left the Army and joined the New York City Firefighter and was part of the response to the attacks in NYC on Sept. 11. Following the attack on America, Engeldrum felt inspired to serve his country once again and joined the New York National Guard. He was killed in action by an IED in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 29, 2004.
Holmes also honored Lt. Col. Kim S. Orlando, who was the highest ranking Army officer killed in Iraq. He was killed on Oct. 16, 2003, while attempting to negotiate with armed men who were congregating on a road near a mosque after curfew in Karbala, Iraq.
Lastly, Holmes honored the best man at his wedding, Lt. Col. David E. Cabrera — who died on Oct. 29, 2011, when a Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle, loaded with explosives, into an armored NATO bus. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher R. Newman, Army Sgt. James M. Darrough and Army Sgt. Carlo F. Eugenio were also killed.
“Our country celebrates veterans with three holidays. Veterans Day — that’s when we remember veterans of past and present. Armed Forces Day — we mainly recognize those veterans who are currently serving. Which brings us to today, Memorial Day, where we remember those no longer with us,” Holmes said. “To those veterans among us currently serving, please think of joining the American Legion or the VFW. It’s not all about bars or war stories anymore. We actively contribute to our community.”
DePinto followed, and said that the rumble of helicopters, the booms of artillery training and the sight of a uniform at a local business is all part of the presence of military families woven into the Yelm community.
“On Memorial Day, we pause. We step away from our daily routines to honor the brave men and women who gave their measure of devotion in service to our country,” DePinto said. “On Memorial Day in Yelm, this day holds a particularly deep and personal meaning. We don’t just read about our nation’s heroes in history books. They’re our neighbors, our friends, the parents coaching our students’ sports teams and the familiar faces we see at our local shops. Being so close to Joint Base Lewis-McChord isn’t just a matter of proximity, it’s a core part of our identity.”
DePinto added that Yelm residents live alongside those who currently serve, and those who have decided to call the area home after their service concludes. He believes that Yelm understands more intimately than other communities that the freedoms we enjoy don’t come free.
“They are protected by a shield of courage, and that shield is held by ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things,” DePinto said. “Though survival was never guaranteed, at every critical juncture our nation’s future was secured by a generation of patriots who answered a call to defend it. They fought for an idea, the radical, beautiful idea that a people could govern themselves, that liberty was a right and that this nation, conceived of freedom, was worth dying for. They gave their lives so that our country could not only survive, but thrive. They sacrificed their own futures so that we could have ours.”
DePinto added that sacrifices made by the men and women serving in the United States military has ensured that debates can occur at the city government level, that lessons in school can be accurately taught and that the civil act of gathering is possible.
He believes their sacrifice is a sacred trust handed down generation by generation. It’s now our responsibility to be worthy of that sacred trust, DePinto stated.
“As America looks toward the next 250 years, our greatest tribute to the fallen is to cherish the republic for which they died. To be active citizens. To engage with one another in good faith. To build a nation and communities strong enough, united enough and worthy enough of their immense sacrifice,” DePinto said. “So today, let’s do more than just remember. Let’s reflect on the names etched in memorials. Let us honor the stories of courage passed down through families. Let us live fully for those who gave it all. God bless our fallen heroes. God bless their families, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.”
