Memorial Day

To the graves of the honored dead who fell in war, Oregonians now add the following to remember on this day:

• Capt. Aaron J. Contreras, 31, of Sherwood. March 30, while serving with a Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Aircraft Group 39, Contreras was killed in a helicopter crash in southern Iraq.

• Staff Sgt. Robert A. Stever, 36, Pendleton. March 8, while serving with the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Stever was killed in action by enemy fire.

• Spc. Brandon S. Tobler, 19, Portland. March 22, while serving with the 671st Engineer Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve, Tobler died when his Humvee ran into the back of another vehicle during a blinding sandstorm.

• U.S. Marine 2nd Lt. Frederick E. Pokorney Jr., 31. A graduate of Oregon State University, Pokorney was with the 1st Battalion 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade on March 23 when a group of Iraqi soldiers who were pretending to surrender opened fire, killing him and eight other Marines.

• Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40. A native Oregonians who grew up in Portland, Stone was serving with his unit from the Idaho National Guard in Kuwait when a deranged fellow soldier threw a grenade. The explosion March 23 killed him and two other soldiers.

Many others among the 196 Americans and allies who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom have links close to home. They are the most recent additions to the war dead first officially honored May 5, 1868, when Major Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic declared an annual "Decoration Day" to honor the Union dead at Arlington Cemetery, once the back yard of vanquished Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Since then, hundreds of thousands more have been added to the rolls of the nation's war dead. Their day now is shared by many families who take the time to visit lost loved ones, whether military or civilian.

The U.S. Memorial Day Organization advises those who wish to observe in the traditional way to place flowers and flags on graves, visit memorials - including the Memorial Union on the OSU campus, built to honor the war dead.

Observers may fly flags at half-staff until noon, then raise them to full staff for the remainder of the day. Flying the POW/MIA flag honors those whose fate remains unknown. Others participate in the National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m., when "Taps" traditionally is played.

On the day that we mourn the lost and celebrate the unofficial start of summer, it is altogether fitting to reflect gratefully and reverently about those who made celebrations of joy - and freedom - possible.