Oklahomans, Descendants Of Union Soldiers Commemorate Fallen Ancestors On Memorial Day

The Sons and Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War held a ceremony Monday to honor fallen ancestors and service members at Union Soldiers Cemetery. 

Poems and speeches were read to a crowd inside the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs building, which neighbors the cemetery, followed by a musket salute outside in the morning rain. 

“Over a million American servicemen and women died fighting for the United States,” Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War commander-in-chief Brian Pierson said. “It's the least we can do to memorialize them.”

Several participants are descendants of Union soldiers who either lived in Oklahoma or moved to the state after the Civil War. 

“We can never forget the sacrifices that were made to preserve freedom in our country,” Pierson said. “The day we forget, the day it becomes just a day to barbecue or to goof around. Then what are we becoming as a country?”