Team BLAZE remembers, honors fallen Published May 21, 2015 By Senior Airman Kaleb Snay COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, hosted a retreat ceremony May 21 in honor of the men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. The base retreat was at Smith Plaza as base personnel lined up in formation and the U.S. flag was taken down and folded in honor of those immortalized in the spirit of U.S. military members to this day. Memorial Day is recognized annually on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died. Even more significant for Team BLAZE members is that Memorial Day heritage traces its roots here in Columbus, Mississippi, at Friendship Cemetery. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who died in military service. On Memorial Day, the United States flag is raised to the top of the staff and then slowly lowered to half-staff position, remaining there until noon when it is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day. The flag is set at half-staff position in remembrance of the more than one million men and women who have given their lives in service of their country. At noon, their memory is raised by the living U.S. military members, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight. "It's an honor and heartfelt responsibility for Columbus AFB to stop our busy mission and take the time to remember those military members who paid for our way of life with their lives," said Col. Howard McArthur, 14th Flying Training Wing Vice Commander. "As we move beyond Memorial Day, I like to remember the words of Ronald Reagan, 'Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.'"
