In remarks to a gathering at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Gravette, Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) paid tribute to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who have died in service to this nation.  Womack used the account of the “Morenci Nine," nine members of Morenci, Arizona’s Class of 1966, who enlisted in the Marine Corps as the war in Vietnam was raging.  They were emblematic of rural America; they played sports together, rode horses and hunted together, and committed their lives to our nation in the most selfless of ways.  Six of those Marines were killed in action.  The little town of Morenci, like hundreds of other rural communities, have endured the pain and hardship of losing loved ones to combat.  And in Gravette, Womack said, “our community is no stranger to this kind of grief… with the 2005 death of Gravette native Sergeant Arthur McGill, killed by a roadside blast in Iraq, while serving with 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd BCT, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA.” 

On this Memorial Day, please pause and remember the sacrifices made by those who serve us in uniform. God bless America.