Heroes Are Not Victims, Bilbray Says at Memorial Day Ceremony

Former Imperial Beach Mayor and Congressman Brian Bilbray challenged Americans to draw a sharp distinction when describing those who die in combat or fighting terrorism at a Memorial Day ceremony in Imperial Beach Monday.

Bilbray spoke to a crowd of more than 200 current and former service members, city officials and members of the community at a Memorial Day ceremony to honor the war dead held in Veterans Park Monday morning.

The ceremony has been held in the park since 1972, according to FRA Branch 289 member and past president Stan Lewandowski.

Calling a hero a victim diminishes the decision made by a free man or woman to put themselves in harm's way and pay the ultimate price in defense of their beliefs, said Bilbray. It diminishes what it means to an American hero, he added.

"Today's society seems to be moving in a direction that is melding the issue of being a hero with being a victim," he said. "And, ladies and gentleman, that is a very, very dangerous place for us as a nation and a culture to be moving to."

What if someone decided to take a hammer and chip away at the Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial, he asked the crowd.

"I know it seems like not very much, but it is wrong, immoral and outrageous to start chipping away at what we know as an American institution and very symbolic place, those memorials."

Terrorist attacks on 9/11 are another good example, he said.

“There are people that will say that everyone who died that day were heroes,” he said. “I'm willing to say no they weren't. There were victims by the thousands. There were heroes by the hundreds.” 

The people who stopped hijackers on United Flight 93 from crashing a plane into the U.S. Capitol building were heroes, he said. People on planes that hit the World Trade Center towers were victims.

"If we really want to honor those heroes every day of the year, we must be vigilant not only of defending our freedoms but understanding. Honoring those that are willing to die for those freedoms is an essential step," Bilbray said. "That means every day we go out we should be on the look out of those chipping away, even if it's just a little bit that day, from what we know is a very important concept of free people, and that is appreciation of the men and women and those who are willing to give their all and be appropriately called heroes."

The Mar Vista High School Band and the 832nd Airborne Honor Guard performed Taps and a 21-gun salute.

The following list of names provided by FRA Branch 289 Chaplain Don Kelley were recognized as part of the ceremony:

• Joe Steele
• Phillip Glendenning
• Robert Bolding
• Fred Browning
• John Dewey
• Andrew Mustard
• Sherburne Lendresche
• Glenn Holz
• Dwight Malone
• John Prandy
• William Hayes
• Don Beaver
• Jack Church
• Robert Burns
• Robert Foote
• Gerald Fritch
• Tom Satterfield
• Francis Schwanter
• George Clark
• Sharon Keinschmidt
• Dennis Koca