News 9 Flashback (2003): Memorial Day Ceremonies

There was the ceremony in Lawton at the recently opened national cemetery, a unique remembrance at the veterans' memorial by the Capitol, and then the traditional ceremony here at the 45th Infantry Division Museum.

It was a day for flag-waving, a day for speeches, but mostly it was a day to remember.

Memorial Day ceremonies are rich with tradition, there's the 21-gun salute, the helicopter flyover, and the reading of names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

But on a day where symbols say so much, and where silence can speak volumes, perhaps the most poignant tributes come from the mouths of those who truly understand what it means to sacrifice for one's country.

Rose Cabout lost her veteran husband last year but hasn't lost her sense for what he stood for.

“Be proud of the flag, that right there is for you. Be proud of it, serve your country proudly, walk like a soldier.” Cabout said.

Emmett Steeds and Archer Stotts both served with the 45th Infantry.

For Stotts, Memorial Day is remembering his wife's support, especially as he returned from Korea to meet his 14-month-old daughter for the very first time.

“My wife let me have the keys and I jangled the keys in front of her and she finally just reached out and got a hold of my keys and then I pulled her on in,” Stotts said.

For the older Steeds, who fought in two wars, expressing his feelings on this day is a little bit harder.

“You’re going to ask me a question that’s hard for me to answer because I lost too many buddies in World War II and Korea,” said Steeds. “Not for fame or reward, nor for place or rank, not lured by ambition or goaded by necessity, but in simple obedience to duty as they understood it. These men suffered all, sacrificed all and dared all and died.”