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'Too often we forget' those who sacrificed
By BRADY DENNIS © St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2001 Ella Cochrane usually comes here alone to walk among the headstones shaded by spreading live oaks and Spanish moss. She searches out one grave in particular -- that of her husband, Grafton "Corky" Cochrane, who died in 1990 at age 64. He was a quadriplegic, injured during his service in the Navy in World War II. On Monday, Cochrane's grave and about 740 others in Oakside Cemetery in Zephyrhills had small American flags fluttering beside them in the morning breeze. And this time Ella Cochrane wasn't alone, as a small congregation gathered to sing, to march, to play taps, to give a 21-gun salute -- and most of all, to remember -- the veterans who gave their lives. "These are special people," said Cochrane, 68. "Too often we forget the sacrifice they made, not just the dead, but also the living. My husband never complained. He would have done it all over again." The crowd lacked any young faces, save for three women who stood at attention and served as the color guard. Other than that, the rows of aluminum folding chairs were filled by women with wrinkled faces and thick eyeglasses. White-haired men in uniform rode on electric carts; for them, walking has become a chore. "It's a sad day for me. I had tears in the corner of my eyes," said Jim Amerman, a Korean War veteran and president of the United Veterans Council of East Pasco. "We all survived, but some others did not." Amerman said only one thing troubles him more than the memory of losing friends to foreign bullets: people who fail to remember the courage and heroism for which Memorial Day stands. "I must have seen 30 boats this morning gassing up to go out for parties today," he said. "They forget the price we had to pay for that freedom. What's wrong with remembering? The only people out here are veterans and their families." Several miles north, another group gathered under a white tent at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Dade City. Behind them, flags also dotted the graves of fallen veterans. State Rep. Ken Littlefield, R-Dade City, personally thanked all veterans who forfeited their freedom so the rest of us can enjoy ours. "They love America, yet they spend long years away from this country," he said. "They revere freedom, but they sacrifice their freedom so we may be free. They are black, white, men, women, Hispanic, Indian, Asian, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Muslim. But what is most important is that they are American. "All I am and all I have has come directly because you were willing to put yourselves in harm's way." After his speech, the crowd of 50 or so joined in singing God Bless America. Back at Oakside Cemetery, Cochrane said she was proud to sit in on the ceremony. "I come out here often," she said. "But today is a very special day. This is the one day we have to honor them." She hopped in her white 1993 GMC Jimmy and drove away, on the way passing her husband's grave and next to it the flag, flapping in the wind. - Brady Dennis covers the city of Zephyrhills and police in east Pasco. His phone number is (352) 521-5757, ext. 23.
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From today's Pasco Times |
