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City of Aberdeen | 60 N. Parke Street Aberdeen, MD 21001 | (410) 272-1600
May 25, 2020
For me, in his November 1863 address at Gettysburg, President Lincoln’s words best captured what Memorial Day has come to mean.  He wrote “. . . we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow this ground.  The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it.  We . . . can never forget what they did here.”  Today, on Memorial Day, hold dearly the memories and spirits of the millions of American men and women who throughout our relatively short history paid the price for the liberties we enjoy.  Thank and cherish them for what they did for you, me and the generations to come.
In observance of Memorial Day, Aberdeen City Hall will be closed TODAY, May 25. Regular operations will resume on Tuesday, May 26. Thank you!
Like for the City of Aberdeen and most of the nation, this Memorial Day at Aberdeen Proving Ground will be very different from how we usually observe it.  There will be no large neighborhood barbeques, color guards, or senior leaders participating in community parades and observances.  However, it is still a call for all of us to remember the lives, courage, legacy, and service of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberty and values.  In addition, for Team APG it is an important reminder of why we must remain focused despite the difficult circumstances.  At any given moment, there are 180,000 U.S. Army Soldiers deployed in more than 140 countries, many in harm's way.  As the Army's "Home of Innovation," APG's responsibility is to empower them with the resources and readiness they need to achieve the mission and come home safely.  We owe that to those serving today, as well as to the memory of the patriots who came before them.  We will not waiver in that mission, today or any day.
Being that Aberdeen has such an Army presence, I imagine that everyone understands the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. I come from a family who has been well represented in the U.S. Armed Forces. While my family does not have anyone who has paid the ultimate price while serving, some of my shipmates and service friends have. Their names still come up and they are remembered in those times as well as others. Memorial Day is a more focused emotion on those lives given. My wife and family understand the impact it can have to remember and so part of the day for me to recall and thankful. To try and impress the significance of the day upon my young children, I usually read a citation or two from the Medal of Honor Recipients book. We talk about commitment, passion, and sacrifice. The exercise is as much for me as it is for them. While not everyone may have a certain individual or group they think of on Memorial Day, I believe the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and many other countries around the world are a direct result of those who have died while serving. I would ask that you find an individual, perhaps to whom you can relate, who has made such a sacrifice and say their name out loud, even just to yourself, so that they live on - I believe they deserve that.
David O’Steen, Aberdeen Resident, U.S. Army (Ret)
"When I think of Memorial Day, I think of tremendous combat sacrifice – dying on the battlefield or days later from mortal wounds, suffering debilitating injuries and living with them for years and years, operating for days at a time in harsh conditions away from home. I also think about ordinary men going up against other ordinary men and achieving extraordinary victories. Those victorious Americans would be quick to tell you that they are not heroes, that they were just doing their jobs, that victory must have come from the actions of others. Francis Scott Key put it this way in the fourth verse of the Star-Spangled Banner:  … may the heav’n rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.  That’s what I think about on Memorial Day – with thanks to God Almighty."
 
Sergeant Clark, Aberdeen Police Department, Former USN
"We as a City, State and Country should Honor our Veteran’s for what they have sacrificed. For the ones that didn’t make it back home and for those that did but brought back what they went through. God Bless our Veteran’s on this Memorial Day."
 
Darlene Robertson, Aberdeen Resident, U.S. Army (Ret)
"Both my spouse and I are retired Army officers, who between us have over 55 years of service in or with the U.S. Army.  For close to a decade we were stationed overseas, in the heart of the battlefields of WWI and WWII.  To me, there is nothing more poignant, more emotionally touching, than to visit the American Battlefield Commission Cemeteries of France, Belgium and Holland on Memorial Day.  To thank the tens-of-thousands who gave everything for their supreme sacrifice. Last year that feeling was amplified when my husband and I were chosen to walk portions of the Korean DMZ; to remember a young boy from a farm in Kentucky who, in 1952, went to a foreign land to fight for his country, was severely wounded, captured, ultimately put to death but whose lies in a shallow grave somewhere in North Korea.  For those who have served, who have walked those hallowed grounds, there’s never a question of what Memorial Day means." 
 
Corporal Pettit, Aberdeen Police Department; U.S. Marine Corps
"Memorial Day in my family is a somber day, a day of remembering the fallen. Since WW2, every generation in my family has served in a foreign war, from my grandfather, to my father, and onto me. Each of us have lost friends and family members in service to our country. We use the day to honor their memory."
 
Spencer Buck, Aberdeen Resident, SFC, USA, RET
"I served 25 years in the Army. Memorial Day is when I can take a day to honor my soldiers who I lost in combat. This is a sad year since we are not able to visit their graves at Arlington, but that will not stop us from honoring our fallen soldiers."
Harford County resident and 96 year old WWII Veteran Felix Andrews (shortened from the Polish Andrejewski) enlisted in the Army, later joining the Merchant Marines where he served in the Pacific on board the U.S.S. Penguin #12 (affectionately called the “Dirty Bird”) and the liberty ship U.S.S. John W. Brown. One of Mr. Andrews fondest memories was seeing his brother, John, on the steps of the mess hall in the Philippines where they served in WWII. He misses his brother and his friends who served and are no longer with us. When asked about Memorial Day, Mr. Andrews feels "pride and honor for those that died for our freedom fighting in the war. I am  proud to be an American and love my country, the good ol’ United States of America!" Following the war, Mr. Andrews worked for many years at Sparrows Point, Baltimore, MD.  Today, he resides at the Forest Hill Health and Rehabilitation Center in Forest Hill, MD where he continues to wear his U.S.S. John W. Brown hat every day.
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City of Aberdeen, Maryland · 60 North Parke Street · Aberdeen, MD 21001 · USA

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