Veterans, Rep. Hardy honor Memorial Day in Pahrump

There was one common theme during local Memorial Day observances – Don’t forget the true meaning of the holiday.

The Pahrump Senior Center and G.G. Sweet Veterans Memorial Park held respective ceremonies honoring those who paid the ultimate price for their country.

Local resident Don Macintosh presided over Friday’s ceremony, where Congressman Cresent Hardy prepared a barbeque lunch for those in attendance.

Macintosh said the ceremony allowed the community a chance to honor those who have passed on.

“This is our 8th annual ceremony and it keeps growing and this is a family,” Macintosh said. “I am glad Congressman Hardy showed up because he is a great friend of the veterans and every person in this community. Everybody has car sales and furniture sales during Memorial Day but it’s not about that. It’s about the ultimate sacrifice. If we can’t show respect to them one day out of the year there’s something wrong with us.”

Hardy, throughout the morning was busy overseeing his Dutch oven duties while a few of his staff were preparing grilled chicken.

He said the day allowed him the chance to get out and visit with his constituents, many of whom are veterans.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to come out and serve the people who give us so much,” he said. “This is Memorial Day weekend and people don’t realize the real sacrifice so many brave men and women have done. There are many who didn’t have the opportunity to serve in conflicts and you never knew that but they still served and they did their job.”

Hardy said many of his family throughout the decades served proudly in their respective branches of the military.

“I was brought up to be a very patriotic kid,” he said. “My grandfather served in World War I, while my uncle served in World War II. My father served in Korea and my little brother served in Iraq.”

Monday’s ceremony at G.G. Sweet Veterans Memorial attracted more than a hundred attendees.

Retired Marine Major Tim Callahan spoke about the importance of remembering what the holiday truly means.

“It’s often said that Americans are increasingly disconnected from the military, since the all-volunteer force, not to mention the limited nature of wars we’ve waged since Vietnam,” he said. “That means that most Americans don’t serve or even have family members who serve.”

Callahan said the number of Americans who were in uniform peaked during the mobilizations of World War I and II, when more 16 million Americans were serving in the armed forces.

“During those two wars, virtually everyone would have had loved ones who participated in the war in some way,” he said. “As horrible as the 6,600 American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are, the numbers in most of our previous wars were far higher.”

As an example Callahan briefly spoke about America’s bloodiest war.

“Figures for the Civil War have always been approximate,” he said. “For many years 618,000 was the accepted estimate of total deaths, but one recent study places the figure at 750,000.”

At present, Callahan said there’s one death for every 378 service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, a stark contrast to previous conflicts.

“In Vietnam the figure was one death for every 58 service members who deployed,” he said. “In both World War I and II, it was around one per 40. During the Civil War, it was one per five, and that of course meant that many more Americans would know someone who died.”

As a parting statement, Callahan urged attendees to keep at least one thing in mind when encountering any member of the armed forces returning home from overseas.

“When we see our fellow citizens arrive back from a foreign land, we should not forget those words that each and every service member spoke upon enlistment,” he said. “When we look upon a returning military member from conflict, a disabled veteran or even a grave marker, those words ‘the oath’ should ring in your conscience. God bless our fallen and God bless our great country, the United States of America.”

According to his bio, Callahan is a decorated combat veteran of the Iraqi invasion in March of 2003, where he was deployed on several different tours over the years before retiring from active duty in 2009.

Callahan was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal with Combat V device and the Combat Action Ribbon for his embedded convoy advisor duties during 2004.

He was also cited for heroism during an attack on his convoy in Western Anbar province by leading a counter-attack upon an insurgent compound and later for a firefight in Fallajuh while manning a truck-mounted machine gun.

As a native of Tucson, Arizona, Callahan and his wife Kathy moved to the Pahrump Valley in 2013.