The True Meaning of Memorial Day

Reflections: Memorial Day - In Memory of Sgt. Frank Wigington

By Karen Brewer, Publisher

Memorial Day is a solemn time of remembrance to honor the men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives in service to our country.

Over the past 25 years, I have written many times about veterans and also, sadly, about Memorial Day and local citizens who have given their all. We honor their memory and remember their families on Memorial Day and always.

Here, in this column, I wish to share about my great grand uncle, Sgt. Frank Wigington (my great grandmother’s brother, my grandmother’s uncle, my mother’s grand uncle), who died during World War II. Frank, who served in the United States Army, 134^th Infantry, 35^th Division, was killed in action on March 26, 1945 at 33, almost 34, years of age in the Netherlands, which had been invaded and occupied by the German Nazis. When Frank died, he left behind his 10-year-old son, Earl.

(My grandmother was always close to her first cousin Earl, and she named one of her sons, my late Uncle Joe Frank, for her father, Joe, and her Uncle Frank.) While I never knew Frank, I knew and thought very highly of Earl, who passed away in 2011 after a short battle with cancer. Earl was interested in genealogy and organized the Wigington reunions for several years. The reunions were held for several years at the Salem Methodist Church fellowship building, and I remember Earl showing me, in the church cemetery, the gravesites of several relatives and ancestors, including his paternal grandparents (my great, great grandparents), James and Emma Wigington, who helped raise Earl.)

Frank was originally buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery (U.S. Military Cemetery), in the village of Margraten in the Netherlands. The people there have never forgotten the American soldiers who freed them from Nazi occupation, and they have cared for the graves of the American soldiers who fought and died there during World War II. Frank Wigington was one of those American soldiers. My grandmother was given a photograph, of her Uncle Frank’s gravesite in the Netherlands, made by someone there on Memorial Day in 1946. Following this column is a link to 1 ½-minute film footage that was taken at that cemetery there on Memorial Day in 1946.

Frank’s remains were returned to the United States and buried at the Florence National Cemetery in Florence, South Carolina, where a graveside service, with full military honors by U.S. Army personnel from Fort Jackson (where Frank had received basic training), was held in April of 1949.

Remembering the true meaning of Memorial Day and paying tribute to, and honoring the memory of, those who died while serving in our nation’s armed forces, who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. We owe them and all veterans a debt we can never repay, and they deserve our utmost respect and honor. We should never forget the service and sacrifice of all who have fought for our country and freedom. On Memorial Day, we remember those who did not return home.