HAYDEN — On Monday, Hayden residents honored the memories of U.S. servicemembers who have given their lives in the service of their country.

Members of the U.S. Submarine Veterans Farragut Base chapter led spectators at Honeysuckle Beach in a remembrance of American submariners who died at sea. According to master of ceremonies Jerry Parker, a higher percentage of submariners perished in World War II than in other types of units. World War II submariner Tom DePew tolled the bell for each of the U.S. submarines that have been lost at sea. Canfield Middle School sixth-grader Brady Bailey helped lay a wreath in Hayden Lake in their honor.

Later at McIntire Family Park, Sgt. Danial Marshall of the Idaho Army National Guard spoke about why troops risk their lives for their country.

“We do it because we must.”

It’s tough on his wife and four kids when he has to leave, and tougher knowing that he might not come back, he said. However, it is necessary. Citizens who step up to serve is the reason why the United States is the greatest nation in the world, he said.

The soldier enlisted in the Arizona Army National Guard in 2005 as a radio operator and deployed to Iraq in 2007 as part of the 996th Area Medical Support Company. He helped run communications for a military police unit at a detainee facility in Ramadi. After leaving the military in 2011, he re-enlisted with the Idaho Army National Guard in 2015, and now works as a recruiter in Hayden.

On Memorial Day we have to choose how to deal with the ones we loved and lost, Marshall said. “You have a choice: you can close yourself off, or celebrate the lives of those who were lost.”

Marshall chooses to celebrate them and recall the happy memories from their lifetimes. He said he gives thanks to God for his mentor, a staff sergeant who died of a civilian hit-and-run, and hoped that he could pass onto his kids what he learned from him.

Those who died in service, he said, were just young men and women when they died. Quoting President Ronald Reagan, Marshall said they gave up two lives: the lives they had, and the ones they would have lived to enjoy. Marshall called on the attentive audience to inspire the next generation with the stories of America’s fallen servicemembers.

Mayor Steve Griffitts expressed gratitude to America’s heroes that his grandchildren could live in a place “where their souls can be free.” Take time to be a good neighbor and to be kind to those around you, added Griffitts.

The ceremony also honored Vietnam veteran and Hayden resident Wayne Syth, who has served the community in a multitude of roles. Syth completed three combat tours in Vietnam aboard a Swift Boat, and served as the city of Hayden’s mayor for two years, city councilman for two years, planning and zoning commission member for 33 years, veterans commission member for 10 years, as well as area fire chief for 25 years.