On Memorial Day, Democrats Abroad remembers, lest we ever forget, the sacrifice of our soldiers and American families. As part of this, Dems Abroad members joined other Americans around the world to take a moment to recognize their sacrifice.
In Japan, DNC Vice Chair Michael Blake joined Democrats Abroad leaders and volunteers, to pay tribute at the Yokohama War Cemetery. After laying wreaths, Blake gave a few words and read an excerpt of Lawrence Binyon’s For the Fallen:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Democrats Abroad members from Germany visited St. Mihiel Cemetery, and laid a wreath on the grave of Ernest Biggers, who played baseball in the Pre-”Negro League” before being drafted and serving as Private in the 816th Pioneer Infantry.
Volunteers in France visited multiple other locations, with recognition from the American Battle Monuments Commission, the American Overseas Memorial Day Association and US military. At Meuse-Argonne, the largest cemetery in Europe, a wreath was laid at the grave of a Black American “Buffalo Soldier” and American University of Paris Professor Steve Ekovich reminded us:
Our democracy in 1918 was far from perfect. The Buffalo soldiers lived in a racist America, oftentimes virulent. Those of other ethnic groups faced intolerance and exclusion. The same for the Jews resting here. But they came and fought because they also wanted to be included, and in combat they were. And here in this final resting place all are equal. Look around, no gravestone here is grander than any other, or has a place of privilege.
But we should remind ourselves that the best way they have been honored over the years is through the efforts of the generations that followed them, generations here today, who have made democracy, the ideal that is also commemorated in this solemn place, better and real, more egalitarian and just, and inclusive.
Members also attended ceremonies at Belleau Woods Cemetery, placing a wreath at the tomb of one of few Jewish soldiers buried there: Barney Ginsberg, a World War I Victory Medal recipient and Private from New York. At Oise-Aisne Cemetery, a wreath was also placed on the grave of Private Grover C. Jones, who was part the "Iron Division,” one of the most decorated infantry divisions in the US Army during WWI.
In the Panama, Democrats Abroad volunteers laid wreaths at Corozal American Military Cemetery, where veterans from every military branch from the Mexican-American War, Civil War, WWI and II, and other conflicts, are buried.
Democrats Abroad participated in further similar events in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Sweden. No matter the location, the sentiment was the same: these moments are not partisan - only American. We are proud to support the history and memory of these fallen soldiers, and we are grateful for their sacrifice, and that of their families.
