MOSES LAKE — The Memorial Day ceremony at Pioneer Memorial Gardens in Moses Lake Monday wasn’t long, not more than about 20 minutes, but it was heartfelt.

The ceremony was led by American Legion Service Officer Fil Rivera, a retired Green Beret master sergeant who served in Vietnam and the Dominican Republic.

“(In honoring) the memories of our comrade veterans that have passed ... beyond the setting of the sun, it is fitting that all present feel the same reverence in their memory as felt by those who knew them and loved them,” Rivera said, before leading those gathered in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Jeanie Radder, past chaplain of the Fourth District American Legion Auxiliary, offered a prayer, asking for God’s blessing on the ceremony.

“The lives of those veterans who paid the supreme sacrifice are glorious before us,” Radder prayed. “Their deeds constitute a daily inspiration for those like ourselves, who remain in our communities. In God we trust and make our faith guide, protect and sustain our people.”

Rivera spoke again after the prayer.

“The memories (of our fallen comrades) are imprinted in our heart, their deeds written in the history of our country,” Rivera said to the crowd, “while those of us left to assemble here stand and bow our heads and loving hearts in reverence of them. May their passing leave a mark imprinted in the minds of all in the future generations.”

A representative from the American Legion Auxiliary laid a wreath at the foot of the flag, and an honor guard fired a 21-gun salute. Rivera then read a poem entitled “A Soldier’s Dream,” about a mortally wounded soldier in Vietnam reminiscing on his home, his family and his service, and finally finding himself transported to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. The poem concluded:

“As he looked through the list of names, his heart filled with sadness.

Brothers in arms, fighting in a war that was pure madness

As he tried to walk away, he turned around.

It was there and then his death he had found.”

The attendees stood silent for a moment, and then Rivera delivered a second prayer.

“We pause to pay tribute to our honored and revered departed comrades,” Rivera prayed. “Watch over them, grant eternal peace ... and happiness to their soul, and keep them till the hour of the final reveille on that day when we are all called before the divine Commander. May they all be present and accounted for.”

Radder’s husband Richard Radder, also an American Legion chaplain, was originally scheduled to deliver the prayer, he said afterward, but his voice was hoarse from the ceremony earlier at the former Larson Air Force Base in honor of the victims of a 1952 airplane crash. Radder, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam, represented the American Legion Riders.

“It’s great,” he said of the ceremony. “Everybody's working together. You know it's none of this foolish pride or power. We're here for one reason: God bless our country. We need it.”

Joel Martin can be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.