Gold Star Mother Teach Children About Sacrificies

HARWICH – Stories about the importance and meaning of military service need to be passed down through the generations, Gold Star Mother Cyndy Jones said during the town’s Memorial Day ceremony in Brooks Park Monday.

“Tell your stories to your children, to your grandchildren. You hold the future of our democracy. Let them hear of your sacrifices, your love for this country and why you sacrificed so much for total strangers. This great nation needs to hear your history,” said Jones.

“Today we honor those who didn’t come home, those who gave it all to never again feel the homeland beneath their feet,” said USAF Veteran Charles Carroll in opening remarks. “We don’t celebrate, we honor.”

It was a very emotional day for those who came to honor military personnel “who gave us the greatest gift they could bestow upon us — their lives,” said Select Board member Donald Howell.

Guest speaker Jones of Mashpee lost her son, Marine Corps Captain Eric A. Jones, a helicopter pilot, in a collision while flying combat missions to protect ground troops in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in October 2009.

“Memorial Day carries so many memories,” she told the gathering of close to 200 people. “It was a day of reverence within my family. A solemn day. I now know that to a Gold Star Family, Memorial Day is every day.”

In this country, she said, the belief is that freedom is a “God-given right” for every man and woman. It is what our forefathers fought for, it is what 11 major wars and the various conflicts were all about. It is why men and women don a military uniform, Jones said.

“It is not for the politics, but for the freedom to have politics,” she said.

It is the responsibility of parents to communicate the knowledge of their children’s roots to them and to teach them about their parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles.

“I know that there is a silence among those who serve in the military. I have witnessed that for the past 15 years. We cannot afford that silence anymore,” said Jones. “If there is ever a time in our history that these stories need to be told to the young, it is now. Our children need to know about the sacrifices that are and were made for them, for all of us. How else can one appreciate our freedom?”

Jones related the story of her father-in-law, who served in Anzio during World War II. He was a scout who went beyond enemy lines, but he never shared those stories with his son.

Years later when Jones’ son, Eric, was eight years old, “dad suddenly shared his story one lazy summer afternoon. He shared stories that opened a wealth of admiration, not only to my husband and me, but more so in my young son. Dad’s stories were not of the atrocities, but of camaraderie that was shared among his ‘brothers-in-arms’,” she said.

She said she can still see her son sitting on the floor looking up at his grandfather, whom he idolized. Sadly, her father-in-law died one month later. But her grandson stored the stories deep within his heart. His grandfather’s military medals and paraphernalia were passed on to him.

Eric grew up with a knowledge and love of history. Dinnertime was a time for storytelling. Eric was proud of his grandfather and he shared those stories with his friends.

Eric knew of the sacrifices for the “God-given right” of freedom, but Eric was no different than any man or woman who wears a military uniform, Jones said.

“When the casualty officer placed Eric’s dog tags in my hand, there were two dog tags on that chain. One was Eric’s, the other, his grandfather’s. Eric carried his grandfather with him into battle,” she said.

“God bless this nation with warriors who were, and are willing to give the ultimate,” said Jones.

Howell presented a proclamation from the select board during the ceremony which read, in part: “We continue to live in times where the enemies of freedom relentlessly advance their attempts at holding an entire world hostage.

“We must never forget the peril of these times, and all the others which preceded today, by honoring the brave young men and women who, as Abraham Lincoln wrote, ‘gave the last full measure of devotion’ as they shed their blood to protect our rights and liberties.”