VFW Post 1827 honors fallen soldiers for Memorial Day

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - More than 100 people gathered at the Ting Pavilion in Downtown Charlottesville Monday, May 27, to honor those who lost their lives serving our country.

“Captain Humayun Khan, he’s a [University of Virginia] alumni, he died in 2004 in June. We’re coming up on the 20-year anniversary. He died in Iraq at the front gates when an IED detonated,” Professor of Military Science at UVA Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Eaton-Ferenzi said.

“Tom Flores is somebody that I served with in the 82nd airborne division. and he died of a Vietnam agent orange issue, it was a horrific death,” Retired Army Colonel Lettie Bien said.

Every person in the crowd, spent their Memorial Day remembering.

1st Lt. Alexis Roman was in Iraq and he wears a constant reminder of his soldiers that died.

“They mean a lot to me, that’s why I wear these memorial bracelets because they are, you know, they are part of their part of me and I never take them off and I always remind myself that you know, these are my boys,” Roman said.

“The price of freedom is not free. and to always remember these men and women and to continue living on in their spirit by embodying the values and ideals that they lived while they were here,” Eaton-Ferenzi said.

Retired Colonel Lettie Bien says the same.

“Memorial Day is not just barbecue and beach and all of that. There’s a reason for this and frankly, they’re able to do that because of those who sacrificed and that’s what this day is about,” Bien said.

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