Blog 3492 – 05.26.2026

Memorial Day Remembered

In 1965, sixty years ago, as a sophomore I was enrolled in the Army Junior Officer Training Corp program at Chattanooga Central High School. In ROTC as a junior cadet I learned close order drill, how to march, how to wear the military uniform properly, how to shine my shoes and polish my brass, how to salute, and to observe the military tradition of honoring all those who have served our country. Our Junior ROTC Battalion participated in two Memorial Day parades during the two years that I was a cadet, in May of 1966 and May of 1967.

I have vivid memories of marching in both of those parades along the streets of downtown Chattanooga as crowds of people waved flags to honor those who had served and especially those who had died in wars fighting for the United States of America. Currently nine southern states still set aside a special day in May to commemorate those who died in service of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Over the years what began as Decoration Day, where flowers and flags were placed on the graves honoring deceased service members, gradually became known as Memorial Day. Parades, picnics, and watching war movies are several of the ways we celebrate this national holiday.

Yesterday, I saw some pictures in a news article on my phone showing active duty soldiers placing American flags on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery as they do at all the National Cemetery around the country. The Boys Scouts of America have a program where for a fee they will place a full sized flag in your yard to mark all the national holidays including Memorial Day and The Fourth of July.

Today there will be military parades all around the country to honor those who have served. I opted out of ROTC in my senior year of high school choosing to take a Physical Education class instead. I watched the Memorial Day parade that year as a civilian on the sidelines. In 1969 I was attending the Southeast Army Signal School at Fort Gordon, Georgia on Memorial Day we marched on the parade field. In 1970 I observed Memorial Day on Tan Son Nhut Airbase just outside Saigon in the then Republic of South Vietnam. In 1971, I marched in my last Memorial Day parade, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a couple of months before I was released from active duty three months early to start the fall semester at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

My father, a Navy World War Two veteran, was buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery in the summer of 1997, not long after Memorial Day. Three years and one month later my mother’s body was interred on top of his in the same grave. Her name and information are carved on the back side of his tombstone. The only difference in their graveside services was that dad had military honors at his. The same two preachers spoke at both services and my cousin sang “Sheltered in the Arms of God” at both also.

I think of my mom and dad often especially on Memorial Day. The Chattanooga National Cemetery was always an important place in their lives and even in their deaths. They courted there, several family members who served were buried there. As boys they took my brother and I there to see all the grave stones and memorials to all the honored dead.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White

They say once a marine always a marine. I was a Junior ROTC Cadet for two years and a soldier on active duty for almost three years as a young man. That was a long time ago, yet I still honor those who served and those who continue to serve today. May we do call we can to insure that their great sacrifices have not been and are not made in vain.