{"id":2404,"date":"2020-05-22T10:03:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T17:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/?p=2404"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:34:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T20:34:12","slug":"remembering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/2020\/05\/22\/remembering\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering"},"content":{"rendered":"

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However, this year it seems especially appropriate to broaden the rolls we remember on Memorial Day \u2013 to add in a few other heroes to the list of those we\u2019ve lost this year.<\/p>\n

I had planned to be in Washington, D.C. earlier this month to memorialize Deputy Cooper Dyson\u2019s service and sacrifice\u00a0at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.\u00a0 The pandemic changed all that.\u00a0 While it delayed, it did not diminish the importance of honoring Deputy Dyson’s sacrifice for our community.\u00a0 So please remember him, and his family, this weekend.\u00a0 #NeverForget.<\/p>\n

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We also saw the emergence of another \u201cbattlefield\u201d this year and should appropriately remember the service of those fighting on our behalf \u2013 and the heroes who have sacrificed their lives in that service.<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, frontline nurses, doctors and other healthcare providers around the world have stepped up despite the risks and placed their lives on the line to care for those infected with the COVID-19 virus. And, sadly, as a result, we\u2019ve lost many whose life\u2019s work was to save others.<\/p>\n

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Throughout our history, our very best people have confronted threats to our country.\u00a0 Most of the time, they could see and confront the enemy directly.\u00a0 Today, it is different.\u00a0 Our healthcare workers need to go to work, day after day, against an unseen enemy.\u00a0 And the costs of the fighting the battle are not just being paid in our hospitals but also across our communities. My condolences to those family members and friends who have lost loved ones to the virus.<\/p>\n

I encourage all of us to take a moment and pause in our weekend to give a thought to all who have made the ultimate sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Memorial Day this year will look quite different as we won\u2019t be able to gather as a community at gravesides and pay our collective respects to our fallen.\u00a0 Instead, there will be virtual remembrances. I\u2019ve been asked to speak at a celebration hosted by Mountain View Memorial Park.\u00a0 The event will be Monday, May 24 at 2:00 p.m. and can be watched via a link here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I want to close with a challenge from one of the most powerful scenes in my favorite movie, \u201cSaving Private Ryan.\u201d\u00a0 Set on D-Day in World War II, the basic story is about a small group of veteran soldiers whose mission is to and find and save Private Ryan.<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: At the end of the movie, nearly all the soldiers have died, but the mission succeeds.\u00a0 Tom Hanks plays the leader of the group and his dying words to Private Ryan (Matt Damon) are \u201cearn it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is the final scene of the movie:<\/p>\n