Students in Colony High School's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program form the color guard at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer on Memorial Day 2024.
A photo wall in the front entry hallway of the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home features each veteran resident with an 8x10-inch color photo with their name, branch of military service, and date of service.
The Memorial Day program at the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer. The Palmer facility is the official veterans home for the whole state and in May 2024, of the 77 residents, 43 were veterans.
My husband Gary had lived in the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home for two years on Memorial Day 2024. I planned to join him as usual to attend the 11 a.m. Memorial Day program. With our grandson sweating away in Army basic training in Fort Moore, Georgia, the holiday had even more significance.
During the Sunday sermon the day before, the pastor had brought several interesting things to light about celebrating Memorial Day. Then first thing Monday morning, I found the entry in my daily devotion book written by a woman whose husband served four years in the Air Force straight out of high school. He patrolled military bases as a law enforcement specialist, and she explained how his time in the military affected the rest of his life. Never in the military herself, she wrote how and why she grew to respect veterans.
In a second devotional book another woman wrote about how her younger brother went off to Vietnam in 1969, but she was newly married and living far from family and didn't realize how life-changing his experience was until many years later when she read the letters he sent home to their mother. She wrote that she never acknowledged his sacrifices or even said a simple "thank you." And that she now understands how Memorial Day not only honors the Americans who sacrificed their lives for their country, but also those who sacrificed their comfort and safety.
Then shortly after reading those devotions, I flipped on my usual radio station in the kitchen and soon was immersed in patriotic songs. For some reason, I had never before heard "Some Gave All" by Billy Ray Cyrus, and it moved me to tears. I dropped everything and researched on the Internet until I found the lyrics and printed them.
A couple of hours later, I sat on a folding chair beside Gary in his wheelchair in the "great room" of the Palmer Veterans and Pioneer Home, where staff were busy getting everyone situated. A noticeable feeling of anticipation filled the air as more residents gathered...a few walking, but most with the help of walkers and wheelchairs, either self-propelled or being pushed. My mind pondered as we waited.
As a child living in Spenard, a large American Legion sign on Fireweed Avenue always stood out to me while riding in the family car. The sign proclaimed, "Freedom Is Not Free." I couldn't understand why the American Legion (whoever they were) felt it was important to put that message on a sign for all to read. I remember asking my mother what it meant, but I was so young that after she finished her explanation, I still did not understand.
Many of my high school classmates enlisted or were drafted into the Vietnam war. Both the draft ended and I graduated in 1973. I understood the guys who chose to enlist in what they were interested in, rather than wait and be drafted. If I was a male, I would have chosen the Navy, but now I question my 17-year-old mind. Growing up in Glennallen, I knew little about oceans and could not swim. Instead, I married Gary the week after graduation.
Neither Gary nor I served in the military, but so many of our generation did, as did family and relatives in previous generations. My dad worked in the Seward power plant during World War II. He was ready to go wherever he was sent, but each evaluation he was told by the Selective Service, "The military needs you to stay right where you are." Gary's father was a civilian flight instructor for the U.S. Air Corps Flight School at a Los Angeles airport during World War II and later transported jeeps and other military equipment to the South Pacific war arena. Gary's Uncle Jim was a test pilot for Lockheed during this time. Later, my uncle served in Korea.
Over the past three years, Gary and I have done many "walkabouts" around the Palmer Veterans and Pioneer Home. I slowly push his wheelchair up and down the various wings. Interesting military art hangs on the walls. Six flags hang from the extra high ceiling of the hallway on the Homestead wing - one flag for each of the Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The Palmer facility is the official veterans home for the whole state and in May 2024, of the 77 residents, 43 were veterans.
Memorial Day 2024, the space in the "great room" was full by the time the Colony High Military color guard marched in and "Taps" were played. Seeing the young people in uniform immediately reminded me again of our grandson. One of the wives of a veteran resident gave an "Introduction to Memorial Day," in which she said, "We should all remember that our freedom is not free." Her British accent was a reminder that many of our servicemen married European girls because of World War II. After a Pioneer Home board member spoke, the British woman read the poem "In Flanders Field." Interspersed, Dave Baker played "My Country Tis of Thee" and "God Bless America" on the piano and we all sang along.
More than once, my thoughts strayed to our grandson, and how his service would affect his life. My heart was troubled thinking about his future safety...as I imagined were the hearts of all mothers, fathers, and family of the more than one million men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation while serving in wars and missions since the American Revolution. My heart swelled with pride at the same time. Such conflicting emotions... I now read every article about military topics in the Anchorage Daily News, and I have long known Alaska has a higher percentage of veterans compared to the other 49 states. When our grandson said he put JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson) near the top of his list as to where he would like to be stationed, I was thrilled.
Now another year has come and gone, and my appreciation for the veteran residents of the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home continues to grow. Recently, a wonderful photo wall was created in the front entry hallway. Each veteran is featured with an 8x10-inch color photo with their name, branch of military service, and date of service. A new additional set of military flags are now hanging high on the wall of the "great room."
I look forward to attending the 2025 Memorial Day program with Gary. That day (like every other day) my thoughts and prayers will be with our grandson. He finished basic training (1st Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment - War Eagle Company), completed Airborne training, and is now stationed in Vicenza, Italy, with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, serving his country...because freedom is not free.
Maraley McMichael is a lifelong Alaskan now residing in Palmer. Email her at maraleymcmichael@gmail.com.
