A ceremony at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens brings 180 people to remember those who have served their country.
By ED QUIOCO
Published May 27, 2003
PALM HARBOR - Brian M. Lisko's B-52 bomber was roaring through the skies above northern Iraq during the Persian Gulf War when antiaircraft artillery suddenly exploded nearby. Moments later, he learned of another threat: surface-to-air missiles.
Before the bomber took off, Lisko, the pilot, had been told the crew could abort the mission if things got hairy. He turned to his crew. Should they finish their bombing mission or return to base, away from the danger, he asked.
Then they remembered friends on another B-52 who had recently died in the war.
"I told the guys, "Let's not let them die in vain,' " Lisko said. "So we pressed on."
Lisko fought back tears as he told this story Monday to about 180 people at the Memorial Day service at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens. The annual service is sponsored by the Fleet Reserve Association, Branch 109, in Clearwater.
Some in the crowd said they never miss a Memorial Day service. They hoped more people would treat the day as a way to honor the sons and daughters who never came home.
"It's not a holiday for picnics," said Danny Sowder, 59, of Dunedin, who served during Vietnam as an Army sergeant in the infantry. "That's fine and dandy. But they should come out and observe Memorial Day and remember what it's for."
Sowder was wounded twice. Every time he watched coverage of the war in Iraq on television news stations like CNN, the images brought back painful memories of his tour in Vietnam. Still, he could not stop watching.
"I guess I'm trapped," Sowder said. "I can't get it out of my system."
For some, the war in Iraq hit very close to home.
Vietnam veteran Jimmy Dean Sr., 60, got a great surprise last week. His son had come home from Iraq where he flew Black Hawk helicopters. Jimmy Dean Jr., 37, called his dad from the family's home in Clearwater.
"I was at a (veterans) meeting and he called and said, "I'm in your driveway,' " the elder Dean said. "I about fainted."
Dean remembered giving his son this advice before he left for the war: "I said, "Watch your backside like your dad had to do in Vietnam and you'll come back.' "
Some said they hoped the war in Iraq would give Memorial Day an even greater significance.
"I'll tell you one thing, whether you are for or against the war, the point is we have lost a lot of good people over there," said Jim Kelly, 77, a member of the Fleet Reserve Association, Branch 109, and a World War II veteran.
"We don't remember our vets as well as we should, and that's a shame because there were a lot of good lives that were lost. Let's hope it wasn't in vain."
Lisko, now a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, told the crowd that the memory of their fallen brothers gave him and his crew resolve to finish the mission. And it paid off. Their bombs helped take out a power plant in northern Iraq, he said.
"Through their deaths, they sustained us to be able to go forward," Lisko said.
