CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – “When you go home, tell them of us and say, ‘for their tomorrow, we gave our today.’”
So reads the famous epitaph by John Maxwell Edmonds, written to honor WWI veterans and etched on the Kohima Memorial in India.
On the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour, Soldiers who had given their lives throughout various campaigns in Iraq from 1914 to 1921 were honored in an Armistice Day memorial ceremony in Al Zabyar, Iraq.
Col. Steven L. Bullimore, 17th Fires Brigade commander, who was on hand to pay his respects, recited the Kohima Epitaph for those who had lost their lives and whose remains were never recovered.
The triumphant sound of “The Last Post” played by Sgt. Joshua D. Dahl, 34th Infantry Division Band, senior instrumentalist, announced the beginning of the ceremony.
“This is quite an honor as a bugler to be able to play for our fallen allies in support of their remembrance,” said the Appleton, Wis. native. “To be a part of the ceremony that celebrates the lives of such distinguished Soldiers is a unique experience that I will never forget.”
British Consulate-General Alice Walpole gave a short speech to honor the many British soldiers who had served in Iraq during the seven-year span and laid a wreath to remind all that, “We will remember them.”
“We come together today to remember all service men and women who have served their nations in conflicts,” said Walpole. “We remember with thanksgiving and sorrow those whose lives, in world wars and conflicts past and present, have been given and taken away.”
The words etched in stone on the memorial, worn by time, read, “To the glory of God and to the honoured memory of these officers and men of the British Empire who fell in the Iraq campaign in the years of 1914-1921 and whose graves are not known.”
As the last notes of Reveille rose from the trumpet, those present lifted their heads and, gazing on the memorial, honored the dead with a moment of Silence.
The keening sound of bagpipes broke the silence, signaling the conclusion of the ceremony.
Sgt. 1st Class Tammy L. Simmons, 1st Battalion, 130th Attack Reconnaissance, played two selections on his bagpipes: “Green Hills of Tyrol” and “And the Battles O’er.”
“This was a once in a life time opportunity,” he said. “I have English and Scottish ancestry, so I felt privileged and honored to be able to play for these heroes.”
As the final keen of the bagpipes soared across the desert air, heads bowed and thoughts turned to remembrance.
