Lakenheath Airmen pay homage to fallen

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Megan P. Lyon
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AFNS) --  Airmen from the 48th Fighter Wing Honor Guard at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, participated in a memorial ceremony honoring fallen heroes at the Scottish-American War Memorial here May 30.

This year marks the 77th annual Scottish-American Memorial Day service at "The Call," a war memorial presented to the Scottish people by the U.S., as a tribute to World War I Scottish troops.

"There's no event that is more important than the act of remembrance, particularly for the United Kingdom and America," said RAF Air Commodore Harry Atkinson, the Air Officer Scotland, representing the U.K. armed forces during the ceremony. "Our friendship is at the heart of our special and essential relationship and most central to that is remembering our war dead from the Great War and all conflicts since, lest we forget."

The memorial depicts a young, kilted soldier looking upward toward Edinburgh Castle.

Behind the seated statue is a sandstone backdrop featuring men joining the call to arms, with a band of bagpipers leading the way. A carved inscription at the base of the panel reads: "If it be life that waits I shall live forever unconquered; if death I shall die at last strong in my pride and free."

During the service, the British Army's Royal Scots Dragoon Guards escorted the honor guard to the memorial where they presented the colors. American and Scottish dignitaries laid poppy wreaths at the base of the statue as the Scots Guards played the bagpipes and bugle. At the end of the ceremony, the Royal Marine Band played the national anthems of both countries.

"I think it's a very unique opportunity, a special opportunity to get together and pay homage to the fallen," said Garrison Sgt. Maj. Graham White, with the Headquarters Edinburgh Garrison, Edinburgh Castle.

For Senior Airman Bryant L. Lanier, a 48th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Public Health technician and honor guard member, the ceremony was a way to honor those who have served.

The sacrifice of all the people, all the fallen soldiers that came before me, allows me to have the opportunity to do this job, Airman Lanier said.

For other onlookers, the ceremony was an unexpected surprise in a foreign country. Adam Anderson, a management consultant in Chicago, Ill., was visiting the gardens during the ceremony. As a child, Mr. Anderson grew up on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

"I didn't even know about it, I just happened to be walking by," Mr. Anderson said. "It was very powerful and special for me to see this, to see everybody come together to celebrate and remember together."