The Des Moines Register - Congressman Young Calls on People to Remember 'Heroes'

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by Linh Ta

Congressman David Young told an audience in Des Moines on Memorial Day that he used to ask God why there wasn't peace in the world.

Now, as violence persists around us, he said we should be questioning what lessons are to be learned from war and sacrifice.

"Those who stood up and selflessly volunteered deserve our prayers. They don't have to do this," Young said. "They feel a need. They feel a sense of purpose in serving, and some have perished and others will."

At Veterans Memorial Auditorium in the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in downtown Des Moines, a few dozen veterans, ranging from those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Vietnam era, came together along with families to remember those that gave their lives in the name of freedom. Old-time classic songs were played by the Argonne Veterans Day Band, while the audience clapped along and honored the veterans in the room.

Young served as the keynote speaker of the event, and he shared stories about several young Iowan soldiers who were killed during war. He mentioned Sgt. Steve Edwards of De Soto, who died in Vietnam in 1969 and was known as "Weaver" for his agility in high school. He also mentioned Private First Class Randall Farlow, a boy from rural Booneville who was killed by heavy arms fire in South Vietnam in 1968.

"They are more than just a name and date on marble stone," Young said. "These are heroes."

Along with Young, Major Sean Quinlan of Waukee spoke about the importance of remembering the country's history. He said people need to know where they've been, so they know where they're going, but said that some people in the United States have been absent-minded about the past.

"We're forgetting where we've been," Quinlan said.

He said there is unfinished business in the United States, but the country is lucky to have people who sacrifice their lives for global freedom.

"We can sleep today in this beautiful country because you've got men and women in harms way that are willing to write that blank check to America," Quinlan said. "We're the only county that has gone in to liberate the oppressed, but we don't occupy."

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