Never forget the awesome cost of freedom we enjoy thanks to the supreme sacrifice of our fallen warriors.

Commander Kevin Long welcomed those in attendance during Memorial Day services held Monday morning in the upper Lehighton Park Amphitheater.

Long said it was a time “to pause and reflect on the sacrifices that made our country the greatest in the world.”

Mayor Ryan Saunders said that Lehighton is “very proud of our rich history of veterans.”

Saunders then underscored the importance for our younger generation to never forget the many soldiers who have given of their lives.

Speaker retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Pamela McGaha said Lehighton “is clearly a community of patriots who love America and have never forgotten the sacrifice of our fallen heroes and their families. Thank you coming today to honor, and most importantly, to remember America’s sons and daughters who gave their precious lives to protect our freedom and way of life.

“This morning, as the sun rose in our nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C., a member of the Army’s prestigious Old Guard stood at the marble Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and precisely performed the dignified and symbolic 21-step patrol. This did not happen just for today, this most revered day ... Army Sentinels have continuously guarded the sacred tomb at Arlington National Cemetery for almost 90 years, since 1937,” she said. “They stand this continuous watch 24 hours a day, and seven days a week, as a small measure of respect from a grateful nation.”

McGaha added that for those who have witnessed the memorial, they know that it’s a “powerfully solemn place of mourning and reflection ... because it is the final resting place for one of America’s unidentified fallen service members from World War I, World War II, and also the Korean War.

“Our nation’s leaders envisaged and constructed the memorial in the short years just after World War I, the Great War. American Doughboys, as they were called, many of whom were recent European immigrants themselves, had turned the tide of the war on the brutal Western Front and finally secured the Allies’ victory. But the victory was borne by a terrible loss ... over 116,000 young Americans gave their lives in fierce battles against tyranny.

“It’s impossible for us now to imagine the deep sense of loss that must have been felt in small towns all across Pennsylvania in 1918, when thousands of families learned that their loved one would never return home. The World War I memorial was just recently unveiled in Washington, and it has a profound epitaph that was written by a soldier who later became a renowned poet and voice for his generation. His name was Archibald MacLeish.

McGaha said MacLeish wrote the following words to speak for his fallen comrades.

“Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope ... or for nothing, we cannot say; it is you who must say this. They say: we leave your our deaths ... give them their meaning. We were young, they say. Remember us.”

McGaha added it was said that World War I was “the war to end all wars.”

“Yet, in less than one generation later, America was thrust into a second world war against tyranny again, lasting four long years,” she said. “We as a nation just commemorated the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day earlier this month, and are nearing the same anniversary for Victory over Japan Day this coming September.

“My grandfather, Army Private First Class McGaha, fought across the Pacific islands as an infantryman with the 81st Infantry Division. And thankfully, by the grace of God, he returned home to his family.”

McGaha said in all the years that have followed since the world wars, brave American men and women have ... and will always ... stand against our adversaries ... in the Korean War. The Vietnam War. The Gulf War. And Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s my sincere hope that we all strive to live lives worthy of their sacrifice,” she said. “I pray that our nation and our communities will forever support their loved ones who are left behind.

“I hope that we say their names aloud and tell the stories of our friends. So that their memories live on, and that their families know our deep gratitude for a sacrifice that can never be repaid.”

The ringing of the bell followed.

Long said that since the first shot was fired that started the Revolutionary War, to the last shot in the War on Terror, America has been involved in 12 wars. He honored those fallen comrades by ringing of the bell.

The service was followed by a procession to Lehighton Cemetery, military honors with flag raising, military honors at American Legion Post #314, followed by flag raising and conclusion of services/honors.