Charles Crane/MDN Steve Veikley plays “Taps” after the rifle salute by American Legion Post 26 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 753 during the Memorial Day program.

The rows of Rosehill Memorial Park were filled with American flags and flowers on Monday morning as dozens of Minot residents turned out for the Memorial Day program at the Veterans section.

The day began with a strewing of flowers and ashes earlier in the morning on Veterans Memorial Walkway, before the attendants and local veterans of motorcycle clubs processed to the cemetery. The program began with a rendition of the national anthem by Lila and Samantha Farden and an opening prayer by Father Jacob Degele. This was followed by an address delivered by retired U.S. Marine Corp Maj. Trygve Hammer. He gave an address about the necessity of silence to properly reflect on and honor the sacrifices of those who have fallen in service of the country.

Hammer shared memories from his time at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he saw firsthand “superstars” like Michael McGreevy, an otherwise gifted midshipman who nonetheless struggled to clear the hurdles necessary to join the Navy SEALS. Hammer noted that McGreevy not only made it through Navy SEALS training but he also finished in the top of his class. Hammer said years later he discovered McGreevy succeeded in his goal when he was one of the 19 special forces casualties of Operation Red Wings, a tragic event from the Afghanistan War depicted in the film “Lone Survivor.”

“You may even have seen in the credits at the end of the movie, a picture of Mike McGreevy holding his infant daughter. I think of Mike and others like him on regular walks I take through this cemetery in my home three blocks from here. I began these walks as a way to clear my mind,” Hammer said, “We have to work for silence. It doesn’t come for free. We almost never have to ask for a moment of talking, but almost always, for a moment of silence. That small still voice unites us with truth. It tells us that the best way to honor the sacrifice of those who have fallen in service to our country is to make sure that we remain the kind of nation they were committed to defend.”

The program concluded with a placement of a wreath, and a rifle salute by the American Legion Post 26 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 753, and a performance of “Taps” by Steve Veikley, before Degele closed the ceremony with a prayer.

“Lord, we thank you for inspiring so many countless men and women to lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters. We ask that through this ceremony, you instill in each and every one of us the deeper sense of gratitude for that with which we’ve been given in our country,” Degele said.