Memorial Day observances held in Cochise County (Warriors are gone but not forgotten)

Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Review ^ | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA — On July 20, 1968, 2nd Lt. James Leland Weeks was leading his first patrol when he was killed.

Weeks had not reached his 22nd birthday.

He hadn’t been in the Army for too long — less than six months.

And, no it wasn’t in South Vietnam — for Weeks was killed while on patrol in the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea in a time when the communist regime in the north were flexing their disdain for the United States — 1968 was the time North Korea captured the U.S. Navy’s spy ship Pueblo.

Weeks, an infantry officer with the 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry, 2nd Division, was in South Korea less than a week when he life was cut short by North Korean infiltrators during a firefight.

Monday, his grave was chosen to be honored among the hundreds of burial sites at the Post Cemetery on this Southern Arizona Army fort.

Among nearly 600 attendees at the event were Weeks’ mother Mildred Polk Weeks and his younger brother William Polk Weeks who came from Knoxville, Tenn.

Sitting on a bench near her son’s grave, the mother said having her son buried on the fort was the right thing to do.

He was a University of Arizona graduate, the family lived on the post — her husband the late Col. Eugene Leland Weeks was the assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics with the Signal Corps headquarters — and her son had officially made Arizona his domicile, she said.

That her son was being remembered was special for mom, Weeks’ brother said.

Since he’s been dead for nearly 40 years, and there is no family around where he is buried, that means many people do not know him, the brother said.

The mother said Memorial Day lately is more “getting ready for summer, with picnics and shopping, and not remembering those who gave their lives for America.”

It was that very theme Maj. Gen. John Custer spoke to during his speech at the cemetery.

“Sadly, the traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished over the years,” the commander of the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca said. “A recent Gallup Poll revealed that only 28 percent of Americans know the meaning of this noble holiday.”

In countless cemeteries throughout the nation the graves of those who died for the nation “are increasingly ignored and neglected,” the general said.

This year the annual fort ceremony was dedicated to those who fell during the Korean War and from the time that the ceasefire went into effect in the early 1950s. Technically the United States and its allies — the South Korea and United Nations — are still at war with North Korea.

Although Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, came into being after the Civil War, which tore apart the United States as the North and South fought in the 1860s, the special day has become a time to honor all who have died in America’s wars since the Revolutionary War through today’s war against terrorism, Custer commented.

“We remember what was gained and what was lost during the times of war. From the bravery of the men at Valley Forge, to the daring of Normandy, the courage of Iwo Jima and the steady resolve in Afghanistan and Iraq, our men and women in uniform have earned every hour we live in freedom,” the general said.

America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have come from farms and cities, leaving their peacetime jobs to defend the nation, he said.

“The troops in Afghanistan and Iraq today are the direct descendants of the troops at Yorktown and Normandy. Although the battle fronts may be different and the weapons more advanced, our purpose remains the same; in order to protect our freedom at home, we must promote freedom throughout the world,” Custer said.

Providing two vignettes of soldiers who have been killed in the war against terrorism, the general said they would have rather lived to pursue happiness with their loved ones but knew if called upon they would have to shed what Lincoln called their last full measure of devotion — their lives.

“In his last letter from the Middle East, Staff Sgt. Lincoln Hollinsaid expressed his appreciation to his family for sending him mail. In his letter, he wrote, ‘I only wish my truck and boat knew how to write. I sure do miss them. Today would be a beautiful fishing day. I can see it now: drop my anchors, kick my feet up, three poles out with hooks in search for that elusive, yet lovable catfish.’ ” Custer said, quoting from the soldier’s missive.

“But Hollinsaid was killed in Mosul, Iraq, never having the opportunity to go fishing again,” the general noted.

Then there was something written by 1st Lt. Mark Dooley, who was killed by a terrorist roadside bomb in Ramadi, Iraq, who before he deployed left a “just in case letter” with his parents,” in which he wrote, “Remember that my leaving was in the service of something that we love. So be proud. The best way to pay respect is to value why a sacrifice was made,” said the letter, recited by Custer.

America’s warriors do not fight for glory; they fight to fulfill a duty, the general said.

“They don’t yearn to be heroes, they yearn to see mom and dad again, to hold their sweethearts and watch their sons and daughters grow.

“They want to enjoy the daily miracle of freedom in America; yet they gave all of it up, and many give up life itself for the sake of others,” Custer said.

What is left for all Americans is a duty to remember those who have given their lives by completing their uncompleted missions, which is “advancing the cause of liberty and by laying a foundation of peace for the next generation of young Americans,” Custer remarked.

That is what Weeks did, he said.

Earlier in his speech, the general expressed his personal thanks to the Weeks family and by extension that of all the attendees at the post ceremony.

“Mrs. Weeks, today Fort Huachuca extends our deepest gratitude to your son and family for your many sacrifices. Your son’s selfless service and the service of all those who’ve fallen to defend our freedom is the reason Americans are able to travel freely and voice their opinions. They are the reason our children sleep soundly at night and the reason our nation is secure,” Custer commented.

He escorted Weeks’ mother to lay a wreath at an area not far from his grave.

Soon the air would be filled with the sounds of a rifle volley, the notes of “Taps” and then the echoing explosions from the 21-gun salute fired from the fort’s Reservoir Hill.

Later she, her son and others would take the memorial offerings to the actual grave, which she said she selected because it was close to the area she had attended during the Memorial Day ceremony in 1968 with her son. Under the branches and leaves of a large tree, 2nd Lt. James Leland Weeks rests for eternity with his tombstone marking his date of birth as 9 Oct. 1946 and date of death as 20 July 1968.

Like soldiers before him and after him, Custer noted, “Every day your United States Army has the chance to make the world safer. And we can. Every day, your United States Army has the ability to spread freedom. And we will. And every day, your United States Army has the power to fight and eliminate terror. And we must.”

That is why the importance of Memorial Day must live on, for it is a special day to never forget those who have died for the nation, Custer said.

“May we never fail to live up to their standard, and may we never falter in our fight for freedom at home and abroad,” the general said.

Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.