Virtual Memorial Day: Veterans Legacy Program

National Cemetery Administration sent this bulletin at 05/19/2020 01:44 PM EDT
Bakersfield National Cemetery

Honoring the Fallen Virtually

Memorial Day 2020 will be unlike any other in the history of the United States. Our current public health situation has deprived us of many honored traditions and social gatherings. As we work to rebuild our lives and return to normalcy, the Veterans Legacy Program invites you to memorialize the fallen in new ways by experiencing NCA’s Veterans Legacy Memorial. Together, we can still honor them.

The Veterans Legacy Memorial is an online database which provides a tribute page for each of the nearly 4 million service members and Veterans interred in our National Cemeteries across the country. NCA cemeteries are final resting places for all who served honorably: some who came home and some who gave all.

Students and teachers around the country who participate in the Veterans Legacy Program are discovering the stories of hometown heroes in their local national cemeteries.  Three of those heroes are James Jacques, Sidney Malatsky, and Brett Lundstrom. We encourage you to read their stories of service and sacrifice and leave a tribute to them on the Veterans Legacy Memorial. For educators, we have included a lesson plan that involves students in primary source based analysis of Veteran and service member stories, asking why they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

If you have a service member you wish to honor, you can search for them on the Veterans Legacy Memorial and leave a comment as a lasting tribute on their memorial page.  Please join us in remembering them this Memorial Day.

#MemorialDay #WeRememberThem2020 #HonoringVeterans #StrongerTogether #No VeteranEverDies

 

REMEMBER THEIR SACRIFICE
James Jacques

James Jacques

Pfc. Jacques was born and raised in Colorado and enlisted in the Marine Corps soon after his eighteenth birthday. He was killed on the last mission of the Vietnam War in 1975 and is one of the last names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. His remains were recovered in 1995 and interred in 2012 at Ft. Logan National Cemetery.

Full Biography

Visit Memorial
Malatsky

Sidney Malatsky

2nd Lt. Malatsky served as a bombardier in the Air Crops Reserves during World War II. He was born and raised in Chelsea, Massachusetts to Jewish parents that had immigrated from Russia. His plane crashed into the Adriatic Sea in 1944. Malatsky and five other crew members were never recovered.

Full Biography

Visit Memorial
Lundstrom

Brett Lundstrom

A U.S. Marine from South Dakota, Cpl. Lundstrom touched many people throughout his lifetime. He was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe. He served in the infantry with tours to both Afghanistan and Iraq. Lundstrom was killed in Iraq in January 2006 during an insurgent attack. He was 22 years old when he died.

Full Biography

Visit Memorial

Learning Materials: Why do they serve?

Why do ordinary citizens decide to serve in the military to fight for their country and how can we honor their sacrifice?

Students at the University of Central Florida participating in the Veterans Legacy Program designed a lesson plan, entitled The Greatest Sacrifice, to guide students through primary source-based accounts of individual Veterans and service members. Through careful analysis, students will determine reasons that ordinary men and women are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the United States of America.  Students will be encouraged to honor and remember them. 

Designed for 11th grade social studies, this plan can be adapted for younger audiences.

Lesson Plan For Teachers