Fort observes Memorial Day in Evergreen Cemetery

By Kim McDarison

More than 100 members of the public arrived Monday at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Atkinson to participate in this year’s Memorial Day observance. 

Speakers at the observance included U.S. Army Maj. Eric Schultz and the 2022-23 State Commander of the Wisconsin Veterans of Foreign Wars Michele Rathke. 

From the podium, Schultz said: “We are honored to stand among the veterans of this community who’ve committed themselves to the Constitution of the United States, sworn faith and allegiance to this great country, and served in its defense both domestically or abroad to foster peace across the globe.” 

He said Memorial Day was for remembering those soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation. 

He next shared the story of one such soldier, Sgt. Ryan Jopek, of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. 

Said Schultz: “In 2005 to 2006, our unit was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq. We conducted route security and convoy escorts for supplies throughout Iraq. Sgt. Jopek logged over 40,000 miles driving on Iraqi highways for over 340 days.” 

Schultz said that while he and the sergeant served together, they became better acquainted. 

“He had a warm heart and was always friendly and welcoming,” Schultz said of Jopek. 

The two played video games together to pass the time, he said. 

Sharing some the sergeant’s history, he said he graduated from Merrill High School in 2004 and  planned to restore a 1966 Chevy pickup upon his return to the states. 

Schultz next related the details of what he termed his unit’s “final mission,” which, he said, occurring just three weeks before the unit was scheduled to go home. 

The mission, he said, was to “escort supply vehicles to northern Iraq and back.” Jopek had recently returned from a mission, so he was not assigned to accompany the unit, but, Schultz said, he volunteered to take another man’s place. 

“Sadly, it was a mission he didn’t come back from. Sgt. Ryan Jopek was killed in action on August 1st, 2006,” Schultz said, adding, with visible emotion, that when the unit returned home three weeks later, it was bittersweet, because, he said, “also on that plane, there was an empty seat meant for Ryan.” 

Schultz next read the names listed on the center monument in Evergreen Cemetery, citing among them: Daniel Dobbs, Cyrus Backus, Henry Bower, Jacob Mack, James Short, Walter Dodge, Carl Louis, Clarence Passer, Sam Lowe, Franklin Phelps, Gary Smith, and Ruben Lempke. 

“There are 87 more names, 99 in total. Ninety-nine young individuals that this community has lost,” he said. 

He asked those in attendance to “keep in mind the gold star families who’ve lost loved ones, and the service members who have fallen.” 

Rathke next approached the podium. 

Addressing attendees, she offered thanks to the American Legion Post 166 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1879, and their auxiliaries, for providing her with the opportunity to speak in Fort Atkinson. 

She told the audience that she would pose to them two questions, with hopes that they would be able to answer each after she completed her address. 

She hoped attendees would better understand, she said: “Why Memorial Day is everyday for our gold star families.” 

She next offered her first questions: “Do you know how Memorial Day became an important event in the history of the United States?” 

Rathke said that more than 160 years ago, Memorial Day, then called “Decoration Day,” was observed in Waterloo, New York. 

In 1866, a drug store owner named Henry Wells suggested that the area businesses close for one day to honor, “in a solemn and patriotic manner,” Rathke noted, the fallen soldiers of the American Civil War. 

She said: “A group of confederate widows decorated fresh graves with wildflowers … the townspeople made wreaths and crosses to place upon the headstones, flags waved proudly at half-staff … and an American tradition was born.” 

Rathke asked the attendees in Evergreen Cemetery to not only remember the sacrifice made by soldiers of the nation, but also to “truly” reflect “on their legacy.” 

She posed a second question: “How do we show respect for the men and women who lost their lives during the time they served, and are you a patriot?” 

In response to her second question, she asked several more: “Do you stand for the flag during parades and remove your baseball cap or hat? Do you say the Pledge of Allegiance with conviction and meaning? If of age, do you vote? Do you say please and thank you? Are you grateful for your family, your grandparents, parents, aunt and uncles, siblings, neighbors, police officers, teachers, and protect your community? Do you volunteer in your local community? If you served in the armed forces honorably, are you a member of (a) congressionally chartered veteran organization and participate?” 

Rathke said she could pose more questions, but, she noted, “most of us understand what a patriot is

“If you are here today, you are showing respect and are a patriot for those who lost their life for you, because you are here in person and you may understand the sacrifice and heartache (made by) the families who lost a loved one to our nation’s wars or peacetime.” 

When Rathke arrived at the podium, she told attendees and Schultz that she was surprised by the speech the major had delivered, and his choice to share the story of Sgt. Ryan Jopek, for she, too, she said, planned to talk about the young soldier from Merrill. 

Continuing her speech, she said: “I served on active duty in the Air Force for 20 years. During my service, my career field was called, at the time, ‘personal affairs specialist,’ which consists of casualty notification and assistance.” 

Rathke said her job was to brief loved ones about “benefits after the death of an active duty service person.” 

She said that while she was finishing her “active duty time,” her family moved to Merrill, and she had become aware of a soldier from the community who was killed in action. 

“Of course my family did not know the soldier’s family, but my family assisted the town of Merrill, set up with flags on the poles in town and paid respect at the time of arrival of the soldier’s casket. I was still on active duty, so I was not there to assist, but once I moved to Wisconsin, I was able meet the Gold Star Mother and became friends. 

“I didn’t know the words to say to my friend after her loss of her son until the day my son went in the service and I couldn’t speak to him for two weeks, and I finally understood her heartache, knowing she would never get to say ‘I love you’ or hug her son.” 

She continued: “I still get to love and hug my son. I didn’t know how much that day, would affect my family and myself until my son left a special note at the soldier’s picture at the War Memorial Center in Milwaukee a couple years ago. After my son left the note, that stated: ‘Thank you, you inspired me to protect this country.’ Once my son was done placing his note, we both embraced in a hug, I will never forget.” 

Rathke asked attendees to pause to remember those who did not come home. 

“As we stand together today, we are reminded of the true cost of freedom, and while we, as a nation, mourn the lives lost, we celebrate the lives lived and are forever grateful,” she said.

In addition to the keynote speakers, the observance included remarks made by American Legion Post 166 Commander Joel Osmundson, who served as master of ceremonies, and an invocation led by observance Chaplain Steve Leggett. 

Fort Atkinson High School Class of 2023 President Jack Schepp read The Gettysburg Address, and Fort Atkinson Class of 2024 President Rebecca Christ read “Logan’s Orders.” 

The ceremony included the “decorating of the monument,” during which flowers were laid in honor of fallen soldiers upon the cemetery’s center monument by Osmundson, representing American Legion Post 166; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1879 Commander Bill Imsland; representing the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 409 Steve Swader, and representing the Disabled American Veterans, Al Olsen. 

A benediction, led by Leggett followed. 

The National Anthem was performed by members of the Fort Atkinson High School Band, and taps was sounded by band members Lorena Ramirez and Ashlyn Wadsworth. 

An honor guard assembled for the event presented the colors and a gun salute.  

Following the ceremony, Evergreen Cemetery Association President Brad Wilcox noted that the cemetery’s center monument has been in place for 125 years. 

Along with Rathke, statewide representatives attending the observance included the 2022-23 Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Department of Wisconsin President Faith Elford and State Rep. Scott Johnson.

A album, featuring more than 50 photos from the event and the community’s parade, is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/forts-2023-memorial-day-observance-in-pictures/.