‘Bear,’ others recognized at Poole’s Bluff
Published 5:03 am Wednesday, May 31, 2017
- Family members of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice join others for the wreath presentation. They are, from left: Bear Stewart’s father Joey, his nephew, David II, his sister Jo Anna, and his mother Sandra. Don Crist, organizer of the event and Treasurer of the sponsoring Washington Parish Republican Executive Committee, is standing behind the family. On the right side, in no particular order, are members of the Washington Parish Republican Executive Committee: Darryl Peterson, Chair; John Nichols, Vice-Chair; Cindy Condon, Brenda Simon, N.D. Simon, and Joey Roberts, stepfather of Air Force Senior Airman Elizabeth Loncki, who died in combat on Jan. 7, 2007.
State Senator Beth Mizell welcomed everyone to the Poole’s Bluff Memorial Day Ceremony by recognizing hometown hero Cpl. David S. “Bear” Stewart, with his family in attendance.
“We have a hero right here we all knew,” she said. “Please get the message out about people like ‘Bear.’ We had an example we should hold high. He was killed on August 3, 2005. We want today, to remember the courage and sacrifice. This man lived here. We had him here in our midst.”
After Mizell finished, Pastor Scott Breland spoke.
“Jesus said there is no greater sacrifice than to lay down his life for his friends,” he said of all the heroes who served in the United States military and lost their lives — those who are celebrated on Memorial Day.
Breland and other speakers mentioned being inspired by specific members of the military who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The day’s program included a popular quote that adorns T-shirts. It reads: “Heroes don’t wear capes. They wear dog tags.”
It also included the numbers of U.S. war casualties by war. The numbers are: American Revolutionary War, from 1775 to 1783, 25,000 casualties; War of 1812, from 1812 to 1815, 15,000; Mexican-American War, 1846 to 1848, 13,285; American Civil War, 1861 to 1865, 625,000;Philippine-American War, 1899 to 1902, 4,196;World War I, 1917 to 1918, 116,516; World War II, 1941 to 1945, 405,399; Korean War, 1950 to 1953, 36,516; Vietnam War, 1961 to 1975, 58,205; War on Terror 2001 to present, 7,222.
The event included recognition of all veterans in attendance, and of the families of all fallen heroes, prayer, patriotic singing and a pledge of allegiance by all, and a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps” by American Legion Post 24.
The following morning, Stewart’s mother Sandra expressed her appreciation.
“I was grateful for the Memorial Day service yesterday, and thought it was a fine tribute,” she said.