SAL National Commander Clancy and National Vice Commander Hine joined other Legion Family leadership for Memorial Day events in Washington, D.C.
SAL National Commander William “Bill” Clancy III has visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial numerous times, and recalls visiting Washington, D.C., several times in the 1970s when his father and other Legionnaires “were down here demanding an accounting of MIAs at the time, and POWs.”
The site of the stark black wall still moves him to this day.
“It’s always an emotional place to visit,” Clancy said after he, American Legion National Vice Commander J.D. Larson and American Legion Auxiliary VA&R Chair Lisa Chaplin placed a wreath at the wall on Memorial Day, May 25.
Clancy noticed an older man touching a name on the wall as the Memorial Day ceremony broke up. “He was crying. … It’s heart-wrenching.”
“Just to see when you look at the wall, all the things that are still being left there so many years later, mementos from family members and notes and candles, it’s a special place, no doubt,” Clancy said.
Clancy said it’s important for the SAL to participate in such ceremonies “to show the world who we are.”
“Most of us are not veterans. … For the Sons to have a presence at these events is to show the world, the country, that we’re here, we’re not going anywhere, we’re growing, and we’re going to keep remembering all the good that those who did serve, did,” Clancy said.
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SAL National Vice Commander Bryan Hine also represented the Sons as he, American Legion National Vice Commander Steve Weismann and American Legion Auxiliary National President Pam Ray laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
“Attending the Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery was an unforgettable experience. Serving as national vice commander of the Sons of The American Legion, it was the honor of a lifetime to represent our organization and The American Legion Family. Participating in the wreath-laying ceremony was deeply meaningful and a moment I will always cherish,” Hine said.
For Hine, Memorial Day represents what his grandfather always reminded him: “Freedom is not free.”
“His oldest brother, Luther, was killed in action in France on Nov. 10, 1918 — the very last full day of World War I. His second oldest brother survived the war, only to pass away a few years later from the devastating effects of mustard gas exposure. Three more of his brothers went on to serve in World War II and the Korean War,” Hine said. “It is incredibly vital that we remember the men and women who gave everything for our country. Let us never forget the hundreds of thousands who never made it back to their loved ones, and may we always honor their ultimate sacrifice.”
- Memorial Day