Gone, but not forgotten
May 28—HENDERSON
It took Travis Thompson about four minutes Thursday morning to read the names of 77 fallen Vance County soldiers who gave their lives in World War II, the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War.
The In Memoriam list, recited by the Maria Parham Health director of imaging/wound, started with the name Ronnie Adcox and reached Emmett Hughes about 120 seconds in before concluding with Wiley Wright during the hospital's "No Greater Love" Memorial Day program.
The title of the event was based on the Bible passage from John 15:13, so often summoned by military, law enforcement and fire department members: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."
Maria Parham's security team presented the colors Thursday in the hospital's auditorium before the pledge of allegiance and a stirring rendition of the national anthem by nurse Hope Schuler, the daughter of Lisa VanFleet.
The Rev. Frank Sossamon delivered the invocation and benediction and the keynote address was given by Rickey Padgett, Maria Parham's security director.
"We thank you for all the men and women in uniform," Sossamon said in prayer, "but especially today, those that sacrificed their lives. They came from all kinds of backgrounds. Some were just teenagers."
Padgett recounted stories that had been passed on to him by World War II veterans. One of the vets, a former Navy Seabee, recently died at the age of 105, never losing his zest for life as a way to pay tribute to his comrades that didn't make it home.
Padgett then read excerpts of a letter, written on an old-fashioned typewriter, by a different World War II veteran that left to Padgett following his death a detailed account of his experience in the war.
The letter Padgett recited included tales of encounters with hungry French children and a five-day journey by train from the southern coast of France north to Colmar, along the southwestern German border.
The soldier from the letter walked in the snow for miles at a time in the winter of 1945, and was assigned to collect the bodies of dead friend and foe amid the stench of dead German horses. Finally arriving at the front lines, he endured shelling and listened to the sounds of Germans digging foxholes in frozen ground.
Later, this soldier was knocked off his feet by a German bullet and sent to a field hospital, where he witnessed much graver wounds than his.
He and so many other veterans considered it their duty to fight for their country.
"Once you're a soldier, you're going to be a soldier," Padgett said. "You're willing to give it all and you do it without hesitation."
"We thank you and praise you for their families because they too paid the ultimate price as their loved one laid down their life," Sossamon added, praying, "Many of them continue to grieve and we pray your blessings upon them and that you'll continue to help them as they go through the process of being healed."
