REMEMBERING THEIR SACRIFICE; VETERAN RECALLS DECORATION DAYS PAST.

Byline: Philip Wilt

MY early memories of Memorial Day, which was called Decoration Day back then, are in my small Ohio town.

I remember as a boy sleeping lightly the night before in fear that dad, who was the American Legion commander of the local post, would not awaken me for his early morning trip to the cemetery to put flags on the veterans' graves.

I loved to go from headstone to headstone looking for the special markers that designated the veterans from the Civil War, the Spanish American War and World War I. And finding them, I then would proudly place a 48-star flag in the holder.

As I grew older and became a Boy Scout, I had a better understanding and appreciation of the sacrifice made by these men whose inscriptions on their headstones read, ``Killed at Gettysburg, 1863,'' or ``Killed at San Juan Hill 1898,'' and then the grave of the first boy from our town to fall in World War I, ``Killed in France, 1918.''

In high school, I played trumpet in the school band and remember being asked to play the echo of taps from behind a tree at the rear of the cemetery on one Memorial Day.

Not many years later, at the age of 19, I stood at attention in the uniform of the United States Army with the 515th Field Artillery Battalion at evening retreat. When the band played the Star Spangled Banner, chills tingled my spine, and my mind went back to those Memorial Days in our little cemetery outside our little town, and I could see all the little flags waving in a gentle breeze.

Memorial Day is the most important national holiday we celebrate. While all others are important because they honor individuals who have distinguished themselves in public service or events important to our history, as well as specific groups of people who contribute to the national good, Memorial Day honors the millions who served and the thousands who have died in the name of freedom.

At the urging of a local druggist named Henry C. Welles, the first parade and public memorial service to honor veterans returning from the Civil War was held May 5, 1866, in Waterloo, N.Y.

Flowers and flags were placed on the graves of those who had fallen in combat. The day was called Decoration Day.

Gen. John A. Logan, leader of the Grand Army of the Republic, had a similar idea, and by 1868 they joined Welles' group in choosing May 30 as Decoration Day.

On 1882 the G.A.R. changed the name to Memorial Day because they thought it better to honor the dead from all wars, not just the Civil War. They wanted the remembering to be as important as the decorating.

In the North the day was a legal holiday. In the South each state had similar holidays held on several different dates.

It wasn't until 1971 that President Richard Nixon declared Memorial Day a national holiday and set the last Monday of May as the official date.

Today and Monday, the parades and services will go on as usual at that little cemetery where my dad and brother, both veterans, lie as well as many as my friends.

Over the years, attendance has dwindled at these ceremonies even though many more heroes have been laid to rest from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm.

However, that could be changing. I feel a resurgence in the air to honor our national heroes who served and died so that their families, their friends and all Americans might live in freedom without persecution, discrimination or hopelessness.

This past year, we have had our consciousness raised by books and film: Tom Brokaw's ``The Greatest Generation,'' Steven Ambrose's ``Citizen Soldiers,'' Steven Spielberg's ``Saving Private Ryan,'' and Terrence Maleck and James Jones' ``The Thin Red Line.''

In these presentations, we have been made aware of the horrors of war, the pain, the suffering and the dying but also the great humility and modesty of our men and women in uniform.

These attitudes of modesty were well expressed when a young South Pacific veteran was asked how he became a war hero. ``It was involuntary,'' John Kennedy said. ``They sank my boat.''

There is a hesitation by veterans to talk about their war experiences. It took a Canadian to speak for the many when he said, ``I kept the deeper agonies wrapped in a cotton wool of protective forgetfulness.''

Today we have men and women scattered around the world defending freedom and protecting life. They deserve our support and prayers.

This Memorial Day, I - one of the lucky veterans who came home - will attend a service somewhere in Los Angeles. I will be remembering heroes like George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Sgt. Alvin York, Audie Murphy and all the brave men and women who serve and have served, and especially those who have died while serving under our flag.

I hope I will be joined by millions, by every citizen from sea to shining sea who enjoys the freedom these brave souls defended, in remembering their sacrifice.

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