Memorial Day tribute honors fallen Colorado war heroes
DENVER (KDVR) — Gold Star families, military groups, veterans and community members came together on Saturday to honor the sacrifice of fallen military heroes at the 25th Veterans Memorial Day Tribute.
The solemn and emotional ceremony highlighted those that paid the ultimate price, and the families, who became part of a group they never thought they would be a part of.
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“Nobody sends their children off to the military thinking that they’re going to die,” said William DuBois.
DuBois’ son, Cpt. William DuBois Jr., became a fighter pilot — something he had always wanted to do.
“He was really driven to want to serve,” he said. “9/11 had a lot to do with that. That really was kind of the catalyst of, ‘Okay, I’m going to do this’.”
He was piloting a jet, looking out for his fellow airman, when DuBois Jr. tragically lost his life in December of 2014.
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“The wingman developed an issue with his aircraft,” DuBois said. “[Will] was behind, making sure that his wingman was doing alright and in the right flight path. And six seconds before he crashed, he radioed to his airman to make sure that he was on the right flight path and unfortunately… he was not. He was low and he wound up crashing in the desert. But, made sure that his airman, his wingman made it in safely.”
This theme of enlisting for the good of their brothers in arms, and their country, is woven throughout most of these military heroes’ stories.
“Luke always talked about, you know, ‘I did this for my teammate beside me’,” said Michael Milam.
Milam is the father of Luke Milam, who enlisted in the Navy in 1999 after graduating from Columbine High School that same year.
“He was a special operation corpsman,” Milam said. “There’s like 10,000 corpsmen in the Navy, and there was like 200 Special Amphibian Reconnaissance Corpsmen. So, it was a very small, elite group.”
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In 2007, he was on his fourth deployment in Afghanistan after spending three deployments in Iraq. The Marine Raider Foundation reports he was in the Helmand Province when his vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing him and injuring four others.
“It’ll be 17 years, this September,” Milam said. “It still hurts every day.”
These Gold Star families said the pain never truly goes away.
“Over time, it doesn’t get better, it gets gentler,” DuBois said.
They said amidst the holiday travel, barbecues and car sales, this is what makes Memorial Day what it is.
“I grew up going to the cemetery for, as my grandfather called it, ‘Decoration Day’ all my life. But I never thought of it the same way I do now,” Milam said tearfully.
It is only one day a year, but the sacrifice paid by these men and women is something remembered every single day.
“It takes a special breed of person to do that and be willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice,” DuBois said.
For those interested in remembering those lost in the line of duty, the Travis Manion Foundation will be hosting the Honor Project, an annual effort to honor fallen military service members on Memorial Day weekend, at Fort Logan National Cemetery 9 a.m.
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Volunteers will be visiting the resting places of fallen heroes to place commemorative tokens, pausing to reflect on the sacrifices of those service members.
Gold Star families also said to stop and talk to veterans and active service members and thank them for their service.
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