On Monday, the city of Dunkirk and a number of other area communities will honor its local veterans who had served or paid the ultimate price to protect and defend our country.

Our country lists five official wars along with two police actions in Korea and Vietnam and the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Growing up it was called Decoration day. It was a day to honor all the Civil War soldiers who had paid the ultimate price. May 30 was the official date picked because it was at that time the flowers in Washington were at full bloom. As time passed, some states had issues with that date if it came on a mid-weekday causing labor coverage and other work issues.

In 1968, Congress changed the name and date of Decoration Day to the last Monday in May naming it Memorial Day. With this change the country would now have a long weekend where families could now have more time to decorate the graves of their loved ones that had served and passed away.

As this Memorial Day draws near, people will notice cemeteries full of waves of flags flying next to a Veteran who had served our country.

As time passes, we witness more and more flags flying. The numbers of flags will always go up, but never will go down.

As you pass a cemetery this Memorial Day weekend and see the waves of flags flowing, take a minute and think about those flags. Realize that each flag comes with a veteran’s story, A veteran’s story that as years pass, more and more local veterans stories will just vanish away with time.

On this Memorial Day weekend, take time to visit a cemetery with your family and pay respect for those who served and explain the meaning of this holiday and the sacrifices these veterans had paid. Let them know of any veteran stories you may know of or any family members, friends or neighbors that may be there.

Take time and attend the Memorial Day service the Dunkirk Joint Veterans Council presents each year selecting a special individual as grand marshal to speak of their service given to our veterans and country. After the service, take time to visit Dunkirk’s Gem, The Dunkirk Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum, which displays many local veteran stories, photos and their military history.

In closing and as time passes, we lose more of these valuable stories as families pass on or move. If you have a family member who served, keep telling their stories to family and friends. If you have a family member and know little of their military service it’s easy now to request your loved one’s military Information. You can contact the Veterans Administration, your local VA Rep or your Local Veterans club.

Over the years, the city of Dunkirk and area residents participated in all the wars, police actions and operations the world has thrown at us beginning with the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. We were there for all of them as proof of all the flags you will see flowing in our local cemeteries this weekend.

Have a safe holiday and God bless all our troops serving this great country all over the world!

John Fedyszyn, a former area resident, is a U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran from 1967 to 1969.