Fr. Mitch's Memorial Day Remembrance Remarks
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July 18, 2023In response to requests, following is the full text of Fr. Mitch Zygadlo's Memorial Day Ceremony remarks. A U.S. Air Force Chaplain (retired), Fr. Mitch served as Grand Marshal of the Pittsford Memorial Day Parade. He delivered these remarks on May 29, 2023 at Pittsford Cemetery.
Dear Veterans and family members, members of the Pittsford American Legion Rayson-Miller Post #899 and Commander Al Herdklotz; Pittsford Village Mayor Alysa Plummer; Pittsford Town Supervisor Bill Smith; and all participants of this special Memorial Day 2023.
Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for the honor to be with you during this remembrance on a beautiful day in our beautiful town.
Thanks be to God for the lives of the fallen, for our lives, and the good weather today. We are gathering, celebrating, and paying respects to the men and women who died serving this country.
Many Americans see Memorial Day as an opportunity to relax in the yard, gather with friends, or plan a weekend getaway — and it very much is. But, at the same time, it is important that we never lose sight of the day’s significance: to pay tribute to those who gave their lives to protect our country’s freedom and that of other countries, including my native Poland.
On this day we should also honor those who are on duty, helping Ukraine and keeping the peace in other parts of the world. Just yesterday, a mother sent me a picture of a submarine, located near Japan, where her son was stationed for weeks under Pacific waters.
We must tell the stories of the past and present to the American people so that they will pass these stories on to the children of tomorrow. Maybe that is what this monument is pointing out to all who look at it in this cemetery, where I officiate Veteran and non-Veteran gravesite services.
The history of our nation and those who served can be summarized in a short and simple, yet fitting phrase: “They are ordinary people who by virtue of their service and sacrifice are extraordinary.” Men like Army Chaplain, Captain Emil Kapaun who grew up on a farm in Pilsen, Kansas. His first calling was to God. God, he said, called him into the military service, so he joined the Army during World War II and was released from duty in 1946. In September 1948, Kapaun returned to active duty and was sent to Korea in 1950 to provide comfort and counsel to the troops as a chaplain during the first months of the Korean War. The soldiers quickly realized he was so much more than a chaplain. He was their "Soldier-Saint."
On All Saints Day November 1950 his unit came under heavy attack by Chinese forces. Kapaun had the chance to fall back to safety with a portion of his unit, but he chose to stay in the thick of the battle to minister to the dying and aid the wounded. He braved a bombardment of bullets, bounding from foxhole to foxhole to check on "his boys." Over and over he risked his life to retrieve the wounded or the bodies of the fallen. When the wounded were beyond saving, he gave them spiritual comfort. Despite finally being captured and in the midst of being marched away by a Chinese soldier at gunpoint, Kapaun saw an enemy soldier with his weapon drawn and moments away from executing an American soldier. Kapaun boldly left his captor, pushed the enemy soldier to the ground and picked up the American soldier up from the ditch. The enemy troops were too shocked to react. Kapaun and Miller spent the remainder of their time in the war interned in a prisoner of war camp in North Korea, where he died in 1951. He was posthumously presented the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama at the White House on April 12, 2013.
What's amazing about this story is Kapaun did not shoulder a rifle or use a blade. He carried a Bible and holy water. These were the weapons he used in battle, and they were more effective than the bullets of a determined enemy. His death was a tragedy, but it is from his life that we must learn. Kapaun is on the way to beatification and sainthood! On September 29, 2021 his remains were intombed in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita. (Sources: https://frkapaun.org/about/ and https://www.milarch.org/father-kapaun-cause/)
On Memorial Day, tradition dictates that the Stars and Stripes are raised against the wind to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the position of half-staff where it remains only until noon. The flag is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day. The half-staff position remembers the more than one million women and men who gave their lives in service of their Nation. At noon, their memory is raised by the living who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise in their stead and continue the fight for liberty. (Source: https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/halfstaff.pdf)
It is our responsibility as citizens to remember the Nation’s brave fallen men and women—whether they died on foreign lands in the heat of battle or after a lifetime in the uniform of our military branches. Let us never forget the men and women who know all too much the cost of our freedom. Let us never forget them for their service to this and other countries. Freedom is the greatest gift of all.
Again, thank you for inviting me to be a part of this ceremony. Eternal rest to those who died! God bless those are serving now, especially those who are deployed and making sacrifices to provide us with this opportunity to enjoy this beautiful day.
May God bless each of us! God bless America!
