Victoria Lear, a freshman at Northern Lehigh High School, opened Slatedale's May 25 Memorial Day service by singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Allen O. Delke, Post 16, American Legion presented a military salute to fallen veterans.Dennis Ziegler, president of the Memorial Day committee, said in part, "Under the quiet sod or beneath the murmuring waves their bodies sleep in peace. But in the destinies of men their souls go marching on. Because of them our lives are free. Because of them our nation lives."The anthem performed by four churches in a combined choir was "A Tribute to the Armed Services."Churches contributing to the choir were Holy Trinity Lutheran, Good Shepherd UCC, St. Peter's Methodist and Salem United Methodist.Members of the various services were asked to stand when their service was mentioned.The Rev. James Robison Jr. introduced the two speakers for the day. They are both members of the Northern Lehigh Patriot Club and want to keep patriotism alive in the school.James Yoder began by thanking all who came to the service, especially the veterans and the families and friends of the fallen."Our nation has always been home to men and women who are willing to give their all and lay down their lives to preserve and protect this land that we love," he said."Today for many people it is just a day off from school or work, but for others like Austin Arnold and myself it is much more. There are many things in this world we take for granted, and one of them is freedom."I know freedom because I experience it every day of my life. But there are thousands of people my age who are not experiencing freedom and probably never will."Yoder shared some statistics: Since July 1776, 2,900,000 soldiers have died, with 41,000 missing in action.He concluded with a quote from former President Ronald Reagan, "Freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream."It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States when men were free."Arnold said the men and women of the Armed Forces paid the ultimate price for their country. Those sacrifices make Memorial Day what it is today. We can never truly give enough thanks for everything these people did for our nation.Preparing for his talk made him really think about the sacrifices of these fallen soldiers.They fought the British for our independence, battled to end slavery in the Civil War, worked to defeat Nazi Germany in WWII, prevented the spread of communism in Korea and bringing down the Taliban in the Middle East.Our country had a certain belief and our Armed Forces did whatever was necessary to protect that belief.But these people did not die in vain. They died for a purpose: the protection of their nation.It is a sad reality that many people often look past the true meaning of Memorial Day.They tend to look upon the day as the beginning of summer getting wrapped up in picnics, cookouts and all that good stuff, and might unintentionally forget what this special holiday is all about.But those are some of the rights our brave soldiers died to protect. The important thing is to just remember the price that those soldiers paid.He concluded with a poem:We cherish too, the poppy redThat grows on fields where valor ledIt seems to signal to the skiesThat blood of heroes never dies."I leave here today asking you to make sure you help to celebrate the lives of all of these fallen heroes by keeping them in your memory."Lear sang "God Bless America" and the benediction was given.A Field of Valor program is to be held June 28 at Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, 3940 Mountain Road.It will honor our military and first responders. To purchase a flag in someone's honor or memory, contact the church.For information, email

gsucc@ptd.net.