The story of Damon Winkleman, a combat medic killed in Afghanistan in 2009, was retold as part of the Memorial Day message given Monday in Loudonville.
National News
Jun 1, 2021
Andrew Weston touches the gravestone of his uncle, U.S. Army Vietnam war veteran Thomas Shaun Monahan, at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, 2021 in Elwood, Ill. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar)
A nation slowly emerging from social distancing measures imposed by the coronavirus pandemic honored generations of U.S. veterans killed in the line of duty on a Memorial Day observed without the severe pandemic restrictions that affected the day of tribute just a year ago.
Memorial Day parades and events were held in localities large and small across the country Monday, many resuming after being canceled last year as the pandemic hit with full force.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday. Few in the press paid much attention to what she said. If they had, they would have heard Harris give voice to a vision for America's armed forces that is strikingly different from previous administrations, both Republican and Democratic.