Service members, veterans, government officials, and supporters gathered Monday morning at Government House on St. Croix to honor the fallen in one of the territory’s three concurrent Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremonies.
The St. Croix ceremony included a tribute to those listed as missing in action and prisoners of war in the form of a “Missing Man Table.” Ismael Lampe, second vice commander of Post 102, explained that the items on the table — a white table cloth, a red rose, a slice of lemon and a lit candle, among others — symbolized members of the United States Armed Forces’ purity of motivation to serve and their loved ones’ hope for their safe return.
Command Sgt. Maj. Genevieve Liburd delivered the keynote address and reminded Virgin Islanders that Memorial Day should be a solemn occasion. Instead of wishing one another a “happy” Memorial Day, she said, “Please say, ‘I wish you a meaningful Memorial Day.’”
St. Croix Administrator Sammuel Sanes delivered remarks on behalf of Government House and said he was given pause when he saw the name of a relative on the list of 23 St. Croix veterans who died in the past year. Sanes noted the U.S. Virgin Islands’ inordinately high rate of participation in the U.S. Armed Forces. According to a statement from Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett, the territory boasts one of the highest rates of military service per capita in the nation and the highest percentage of women serving in uniform.
Janise Bølling James, whose father commanded the Alexander Hamilton Post 85 of the American Legion, said it’s important for people to keep remembering and honoring those who defended the freedoms of speech, protest and worship.
“I’ve been doing this from the time I was a very little girl, because my father — Ejnar Bølling — was commander of the Legionnaire post from 1948-1964, when he died,” she said. “And we had ceremonies for Memorial Day and Veterans Day every year, and we — his children — had to participate in them, whether we did the flag, whether we sang the national anthem.”
In the years since, she said, she’s worried the day has lost its meaning.
“But I feel it’s necessary for us to get it back, to really understand what everyone, what all we can get, because of what they did, of the sacrifices they made,” she said.
