CLINTON — The fallen were remembered at the Clinton Cemetery by those looking back on days in uniform and those seeking to honor soldiers who gave everything in the fight for freedom.
Among them at this year’s somber Memorial Day service was Navy Command Master Chief Petty Officer Charles Bond of the Electronic Attack Squadron 133 of the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
“I always try to do something on Memorial Day. Sometimes it’s just putting down flags on graves, sometimes I speak,” Bond said.
He recalled one of the fallen he will never forget — Pfc. Adam T. Hoage.
The 19-year-old Marine was killed in Iraq on the first morning of the ground war during Desert Storm more than 18 years ago.
Bond, then a Navy hospital corpsman, knew the young soldier and recognized him when his body was brought into the field hospital.
Bond volunteered to stand guard by Hoage’s remains.
“It was hard to see him being there before
I was,” he recalled.
“I never forgot him. And I never will,” Bond said.
Under a gray Whidbey sky, more than 85 people — one of the largest turnouts ever at Clinton’s Memorial Day Service — came to pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Rain clouds parted long enough to celebrate the service outside — a blessing for those who had talked earlier of moving the ceremony indoors.
“We have about a seven-minute window of sunshine,” Pastor Mikkel Hustad joked as he opened the service.
Boy Scout Troop 57 officiated the flag-raising ceremony and Matthew Erikson led the crowd in singing the National Anthem.
The Daughters of the American Revolution once again presented a moving collage of poems and tributes as they remembered those fighting abroad.
“You know that each and everyone of us here is given peace by the sacrifice of our men and women serving our country,” said Sally Buckingham, regent of the Whidbey Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The Christian Missionary Alliance Church choir sang patriotic songs celebrating the occasion.
Bond then addressed the audience. Proudly reciting the “Sailor’s Creed” before his speech, he recalled the two service members that had the biggest impact on him throughout his career.
Bond spoke about Navy Chief Watertender Peter Tomich who served on the USS Utah when she was attacked in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Tomich remained under deck manning his post as the ship began to sink. The sailor made sure that the boilers were secured and that all men had gotten out of the engineering spaces — an act of heroism that made it impossible for the sailor to save himself.
Bond said he admired Tomich’s honor, courage and commitment, and noted the chief had been awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Then, Bond remembered Hoage. The seasoned sailor choked up when he recalled volunteering to stay with the young Marine’s remains.
Alone with the body of his comrade, Bond said was encouraged that his career path was the right one.
“I knew then I was doing the right thing serving in our armed forces,” he said.
Bond, who has most recently served two tours to Afghanistan and will return for a third in September, said the service of the two men can serve as an example.
“Let us resolve to be worthy of their sacrifice,” he said.
Once Bond finished his speech, the crowd gave the sailor a standing ovation.
The service concluded with words by Hustad and the reading of the names of local casualties of war, as Boy Scout Will Mellish played Taps in the distance.
