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Show community comments... Saw Glen Richeson this week and he was mighty concerned over the lack of sign-ups for little league and pony league. He didn't know the reason unless that many of our new residents do not realize that we have a very active ball program for everyone, 8 to 80, boys, girls, men and women. It is just slightly amazing to see four games in progress at one time, continuous from 5 to 10 p.m., five nights a week. Throw in some practice time and a few weekend tournaments and the ball field is a hive of activity all summer. But It looks like the number of little league and pony league teams will decrease this year if there are not more sign-ups by next Monday. Glen said that he hates to see the number of teams cut because he is afraid that later boys will show up wanting to play ball and there won't be teams and coaches available for them at that time. Glen's phone is 259-7730 If your boy would like to give him a call. -sit- I've seen many Moabites out checking their flower gardens and rose beds to see if the blooms will be ready for Memorial Day that falls next Monday. The American Legion takes the day to remember deceased veterans and friends. A couple of years ago American Legion Post 307 in California realized that the day had arrived and they had no speaker for their holiday program. They quickly drafted a tribute, not to the men who had died in the nation's wars, but an imagined tribute from the soldier dead to those who survived. I would like to share it with you as we all prepare for Memorial Day next week: "This is the day you have set asde each year to pay honor hon-or to those of us who paid with our lives that you might have -freedom in the land. We are the young men who answered the call so many times in the past 200 years. We are the mother's sons who did not return. "Perhaps you have forgotten forgot-ten us killed at Lexington and Concord by British bullets, or by disease and cold at Valley Forge. Our blood has stained the soil of so many of our 50 states and lands around the world. It was the price exacted at intervals to preserve freedom... free-dom... "Thousands of us died in those four tragic years from 1860 to 1864 defending what we believed in at Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg and so many other fields. "We watched our nation lick its wounds and grow to be a world power. We were proud of our progress, never ques-' tioning the price we paid. "It was not too many years before young Americans were again going into battle; this time on foreign soil, buying glory at Chateau-Thierry, Bel-leau Bel-leau Wood, the Argonne. Those battles swelled the ranks of our Legion of the Dead, yet it was a war we believed would be the last great conflict among men. "Of course, we were mistaken. mis-taken. Soon. ..too soon. ..there was another great challenge and this time our young were engaged in conflict around the world, on land and sea and in the air. We gave our lives at Pearl Harbor and watched comrades fall on Omaha Beach, Kasserine Pass, Anzio, St. Lo, the Marianas, the Coral Sea, tiny islands with names like Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. And women .fell, too, from the jungles "of New Guinea to the cold mud of Italy. "The intervals of peace were growing shorter. Next came Korea and so many of us fell on that cold, unfriendly soil thousands of miles from home. And younger brothers joined us from a place called Vietnam, where they died in jungles, rice paddies, torture pens and prison camps. "Today our Legion of the Dead has grown to astronomical astronomi-cal figures. We pray it grows no larger, but we are wise now. We know that with greatness conies reponsibility and men must be ready to defend that greatness against the predators of history. "We the dead missed so much in life. We missed seeing our parents and sweethearts sweet-hearts again. .we never knew the joys of parenthood. ..the privilege to own our own business, to share in community commun-ity life. ..we were denied the joy of honest labor, the harvest of our crops. But we have had the privilege of watching our nation's rise to greatness. We cheered when Dr. Salk conquered con-quered polio, when Americans landed on the moon. Often we were shamed by the acts of some of our citizens, but we looked around the world and saw no country with less shame, or more cause for pride. "We are glad that you have set aside a day each year to remember us and that you associate our sacrifices with the greatness of our country and its freedom. ..We know you will not fail us. We have faith in you. We rest in peace." |