Veterans recognized during Memorial Day ceremony

NEWBERRY — When Sgt. Maj. Tim Erskine was stationed in Fort Jackson, he was taught two things: always have a 45 minutes speech in your pocket at all times and what a ‘word picture’ was.

While speaking before American Legion Posts 24 and 219 during last week’s Memorial Day ceremony. Erskine’s focus was on the ‘word picture.’

Many years ago, in the summer of 1988, a new 288 minute movie opened that was loosely based on true events and had taken place sometime in June 1944 around the time of the invasion of Normandy. Erskine said the movie opened with an elderly man and his wife, children and grandchildren walking through a military cemetery looking at headstones.

“He seems to kind of wander through the headstones all perfectly aligned, bleach white headstones. His pace quickens as he nears the gravestone he’s looking for. As he finds it, he falls to his knees and tears roll down his cheeks,” Erskine said.

The movie then flashes to the beaches of Normandy in June 1944. That movie was Saving Private Ryan. Erskine said the scene most people talk about is a 23 minutes action sequence that was one of the most realistic combat sequences ever filmed. The scene took four weeks to film, cost $12 million and they had to equip 1,000 extras.

“The most iconic part of the film is later on when the fictional elderly man, James Francis Ryan, is kneeling at a grave markers of John Miller, captain of the U.S. Army at the Normandy American Cemetery. He thought he lived the best life he could and thought if it was enough. Have I been a good man? A good husband? Have I lived a good life,” he said.

The best way, he said, to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and service to their country is by telling their story.

‘We all go to go home, get married – those who didn’t get to do that should be considered heroes. We need to continue to honor them by telling their stories,’ Erskine said.

During the ceremony, he highlighted Medal of Honor recipients from South Carolina who put themselves in harms way in order to protect others, whether it be disabling an assailant, covering themselves with a grenade to protect a comrade or fighting a health battle during and after a deployment.

Erskine encouraged those in attendance to take the time to visit the graves of the veterans who all gave the ultimate sacrifice.

“The most precious thing we have is time so I challenge you to visit their grave markers,” he said.

Reach Kelly Duncan at 803-276-3122 ext. 1867 or kduncan@championcarolinas.com.