Fort Jackson community honors, remembers fallen service members    Mike A. Glasch     Leader Staff

Of all the military bugle calls, none probably elicit more emotion than “Taps.”  For Geraldine Allen, hearing those haunting notes during Fort Jackson’s Memorial Day Ceremony Monday brought back the memories and sorrow surrounding her husband’s death in Vietnam 41 years ago.“When they blow ‘Taps,’ it just weakens me,” she said. “Time heals, but you don’t forget.” Allen serves as president of the Palmetto chapter of the Gold Star Wives –– an organization of military widows and widowers whose spouses died while on active duty or from service-connected disabilities. They, along with members of the Society of Military Widows, were special guests of the ceremony hosted by the 171st Infantry Brigade. Women from both organizations, along with Fort Jackson’s commanding general, Brig. Gen. James H. Schwitters, placed wreaths beneath the post flag flying at half staff, followed by a moment of silence, a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps.” “Let us now declare to ourselves and to others, that we will never forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect this nation and the ideals on which this nation was founded,” Schwitters said. While those gathered were paying tribute to all service members who have died while in service to their country, Schwitters also encouraged everyone to remember those still in harm’s way. “We continue to fight for the basic human freedoms and rights embodied in our nation’s Constitution. Soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors are still in harm’s way each and every day of the week,” he said. “They boldly and courageously face the enemies of our nation in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.” Remembrance, he stressed, is the beginning of paying the debt owed to the more than 4,500 service members killed in the Global War on Terror since 9/11, and all those who have laid down their lives in defense of the nation. “We in this country owe a great debt of gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives so that we could live in a free society,” he said. “We can start to pay that debt by not forgetting and by remembering what they did and what they stood for.” Allen echoed that sentiment. “You keep going and are thankful there are other men and women who sacrificed the same as your husband or father sacrificed,” she said. “Remembering that others sacrificed as well makes me stronger.”