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June 6, 1944, Vandeloo offered a possible reason, that being Scripture.

"Jesus Christ said in the Gospel of John; 'Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," Vandeloo said, saying that he wanted to suggest this had motivated at least some of those who had made the ultimate sacrifice that day. The orders which soldiers had received and followed determined their life and death on the battlefield, followed in trust of their officers.

Closing out with a poem entitled "Freedom isn't Free," Vandeloo was thanked for his continued efforts of support by Legion representative Ed Staib, while VFW representative Bruce Wozniak had his own words to share, spoken at the beginning of the Monday ceremony.

"We honor the memory of those men and women who gave their lives in the service of their country," he said of the day that began in the aftermath of a war that left 600,000 Americans dead, fought between North and South along partly partisan lines.

A day to remember, and recommit to service of one's fellow humans, whoever and wherever they might be.

A group of unnamed veterans pictured on the May 27, 1911 Stanley Republican. Accessed on Badgerlink.