Service and sacrifice remembered at Memorial Day Ceremony in Madison
Speaking beside the City of Madison Wall of Heroes memorial, State Rep. Mike Ball said, “There is no higher calling than service and sacrifice, and we only get the opportunities to serve because of the sacrifices other people make.”
Ball’s speech was the highlight of the American Legion Post 229’s annual Memorial Day Ceremony. He continued by telling a story about his father, a man he learned at an early age what service means.
“Daddy could not drive by someone who was broke down along the side of the road without stopping to help him. He had the heart of a servant. He was always sensitive to those moments we are given from day to day for service,” he said.
His father would also teach him what sacrifice means.
When Ball was just 14-years-old, he worked with his father at a sawmill during the summer. It was the last week before school started back.
“We cut into a big white oak, but when the carriage came back the big board we had just cut off fell. Daddy immediately saw the danger, but instead of getting out of the way he turned around and pushed me out of the way. The saw picked up the board and shot it back and struck him in the head, killing him instantly,” Ball said. “I have thought about that my whole life, because I believe had he had followed his first instinct and got out of the way he would have lived and I would have died. So, I know that every breath that I have taken has been a precious gift from someone who thought more of me than he did himself.”
Ball related the sacrifice his father made to the same decisions soldiers make for every American.
“Quite frankly, when quick action happens many of the soldiers who died in combat didn’t have time to think. Their decision was made long before — when they became a soldier. They loved something else better than they loved themselves,” Ball said. “That’s what sacrifice is.”
Ball served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1973 to 1977 and was honorably discharged as a Sergeant. He spent the next part of his life in law enforcement, working for the Alabama Highway Patrol and Alabama Bureau of Investigations before being elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2002.
“When I remember the precious price that was paid which has provided me so many opportunities in my life to serve, it always draws me back to the place where I need to be,” Ball said. “The gratitude we get in our hearts when we remember the sacrifices that were made to create our opportunities, it transforms our hearts. When we have that gratitude, we are able to serve in the manner in which we are called. We all are called to serve one another. We all are also called to be a living sacrifice, and we do that when we serve one another while expecting nothing in return.”
Other speakers at the ceremony included Madison Mayor Paul Finley, Madison County District 2 Commissioner Steve Haraway, and American Legion Post 229 Commander Larry Vannoy.
The ceremony was the climax of a week-long series of events remembering those who paid the price for our nation. On May 18, the post conducted its annual observance of placing American flags on veterans’ graves in three cemeteries in Madison. Several other veterans’ organizations, Scouting groups and Junior ROTC units joined the Legionnaires in this task.
On May 25 and 26, Post 229 members and the Women’s Auxiliary affiliated with the post greeted the public for the annual Poppy Day. Legionnaires and auxiliary members handed out poppies at Walmart and Kroger locations in Madison.
The poppy is American Legion’s official flower to memorialize soldiers who fought and died during World War I.
