DeSantis delivers remarks and pays respects at Jacksonville’s Memorial Day ceremony

The City of Jacksonville paid respects to the service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice during Monday morning’s annual Memorial Day ceremony.

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On this hallowed day, local veterans came to the Veterans Memorial Wall to pay their respects to their brothers and sisters in arms who laid down their lives in defense of the freedom we all enjoy.

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“Our mission over, especially in Vietnam, was mostly medevacing. So, we carried a lot of the wounded and those who had been killed,” retired Marine Corps. Captain Dick Erickson said.

Erickson served in Vietnam and came to the downtown monument to pay his respects Monday morning.

“Sometimes you get back into those memories a little bit,” Erickson said.

Earlier in the day, the memorial with the names of nearly 1,7000 etched into its granite face, served as the backdrop for the annual Memorial Day Ceremony.

“The sacrifices that people have made throughout history matters, and we would not be free people without those sacrifices,” Governor Ron DeSantis said.

DeSantis, making his first appearance in Jacksonville since announcing his Presidential bid, delivered the opening remarks.

“Those that made the ultimate sacrifice have earned our enduring debt and gratitude for their selfless service,” DeSantis said.

And the memories of those who made that ultimate sacrifice continue to live on in the hearts and minds of their loved ones and the veterans like Erickson, who have seen the true cost of freedom firsthand.

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“There’s just something. It takes you out of yourself. And we got a big nation here and we’re gonna have to stand tall at times,” Erickson said.

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