Jared Froggatte, a detective with the Iola police department and veteran of the Army’s 25th Infantry and the National Guard’s 891st Engineer Battalion, provided the keynote address at Memorial Day services Monday at Iola’s Highland Cemetery.
“While there is nothing unpatriotic about an auto race, a trip to the beach or a barbecue, we are here today to reflect on the true meaning of Memorial Day,” Froggatte said. “Let us remember that tyrannical regimes have been toppled and genocides stopped because Americans sacrificed life and limb. Let us remember that terrorist plots were foiled and killers brought to justice because Americans were willing to pay a high price.”
Americans can make the country a better place, a land where patriotism trumps politics and military veterans are society’s true celebrities,Froggatte said.