Retired chaplain: 'We must ever forget freedom's price'

A retired U.S. Air Force chaplain urged attendees at Perquimans County’s annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday to never forget “freedom’s price.”

Col. Cherri S. Wheeler, who trained approximately 100 chaplains and chaplain assistants and had four combat deployments during her 31-year military career, was the principal speaker at the annual ceremony sponsored by the William Paul Stallings Post #126 and the Reid Louder Post #362 of the American Legion.

About 80 people attended the event held outside the Perquimans County Courthouse despite intermittent sprinkles of rain.

Wheeler, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, recalled the military personnel who have died for the freedoms Americans enjoy. Some served and even died, she said, for ideals in the U.S. Constitution they themselves weren’t able to fully enjoy.

“The Tuskegee Airmen and Women Air Service Pilots of World War II come to mind,” Wheeler said. “They believed in the principles; they believed the dream; they hoped for a future that would include them one day. ... They were willing to fight and die for that day.”

She recalled being in Iraq to witness the first free election following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Seeing Iraqi senior citizens proudly showing the world their purple thumbs — Iraqis’ method to prevent multiple voting — was a heartwarming experience, she said. But it also came at a high price: the deaths of 4,292 U.S. soldiers and wounding of another 32,292. There were also the estimated 200,000 deaths of Iraqi civilians in the war.

Wheeler discussed her own grief as she watched fellow soldiers load flag-draped coffins into aircraft for the heroes’ return flight back to the U.S.

“I personally have overseen the return of military members killed in action from Desert Shield/Storm through Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom,” she said. “I have stood on the flight line ramps in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Ramstein, Germany, to honor the sacrifice of men and women who died for the cause of freedom.

“Freedom requires sacrifice and young men and women have truly given their last full measure of devotion for it throughout our history,” Wheeler continued. “For those of us who remain, we must never forget freedom’s price. We must be ever vigilant against both our foreign and domestic enemies of our Constitution.”

Debera Brookins Long of Reid Louder Post #362 asked attendees at Monday’s ceremony to also remember U.S. soldiers who are still prisoners of war or missing in action. County and town officials then presented wreaths while escorted by representatives from Boy Scout Troop 15 and Cub Scout Pack 150 and area Girl Scouts.

American Legion Post members then gave a roll call of Perquimans County veterans who have died since last year’s Memorial Day observance, and the Perquimans County High School Band played the national anthem.

Reggie White, Post #362’s district commander, said he was glad to see the crowd on hand. But he noted he would like to numbers of attendees increase, particularly given the large community of veterans in Perquimans County.

He praised both American Legion posts in Perquimans for continuing to host Memorial Day ceremonies and the organizations that send youth to participate in them.

“This even is valuable not only for veterans, those now serving but those lost ones, missing in action,” White said. “Some were missing a long time but were accounted for. The best way to remind the public is to have a ceremony, to remember their lost loved ones.”