POLSON — The American Legion of Polson honored those who gave their lives serving our country with an honorary procession through downtown and a ceremony at the Lakeview Cemetery on Memorial Day.
Jeff Nelson from Hardwick Post 112 says the event's purpose was to get the community to honor fallen soldiers of past and present wars.
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“A community rallies around an individual that goes off to join the service, and sometimes they don't always come back,” Nelson said. “To remember that individual is a legacy, and so we honor those that didn't come back from their time and service.”
Remembering those who did not come back is important for veterans like Pruett Helm, who survived a helicopter crash in the Vietnam War that killed 11 soldiers.
“When you have somebody next to you die, it has an incredible impact on you,” Helm said. “It's had an impact on me just being ever so thankful that I came back, albeit in a wheelchair, but it's still just I grieve over the 11 men that were lost that day.”
It is stories like Helm’s and many others that show why the people at this ceremony honor the fallen soldiers rather than celebrate them.
“I hear a lot of times happy Memorial Day, it's not really a happy event,” Nelson said. “It's a solemn event, sometimes we have to correct some people, sometimes when they're saying happy Memorial Day, well. We celebrate Memorial Day, we acknowledge Memorial Day, but we don't necessarily say it's a happy one.”
