The following remarks were delivered by Kellogg Community College Registrar and Petty Officer 2nd Class Rachel Marciniec at KCC’s Memorial Day Ceremony held on May 21 on the College’s North Avenue campus in Battle Creek.
Good morning everyone. I’m grateful to be here with you today.
Today we gather in remembrance.
Memorial Day is more than a holiday or a day off work, more than a parade, and more than the unofficial beginning of summer. It is a sacred moment in which a nation pauses to honor those who gave their lives in service to our country.
The men and women we remember today did not simply lose their lives. They gave up their futures.
They gave up years they would never live, families they would never raise, work they would never accomplish, and moments they would never experience. They lost the ordinary moments many of us take for granted — birthdays, weddings, and the chance to grow old beside the people they loved.
Every fallen service member was an individual filled with hopes, talents, plans, and possibilities. Many of them were not much older than the students who walk this campus today.
Some dreamed of building careers. Others dreamed of returning home to the communities they loved. Some hoped to become parents, teachers, leaders, or creators. And some were still discovering who they would become.
But all of them shared one thing in common: They chose to place something greater than themselves above their own future.
That is the true meaning of sacrifice.
When they answered the call to serve, they did not know how their story would end. Yet they accepted the possibility that they might never come home.
They stood in the gap for others, for people they would never meet, because they believed in something larger than themselves, something worth protecting and preserving for future generations.
And their sacrifice did not end with them.
While we honor the fallen today, we must also remember the Gold Star families who carry the weight of that sacrifice every single day.
Behind every name etched into stone is a family whose life was forever changed.
Parents who lost sons and daughters.
Spouses who lost husbands and wives.
Children who grew up without a mother or father.
Brothers, sisters, friends, and loved ones who carried grief long after the ceremonies ended and the flags were folded.
For Gold Star families, Memorial Day is not only a national observance. It is deeply personal. It is a reminder of an empty seat at the table, a voice no longer heard, and a future that was forever altered.
Their sacrifice did not end when the battle ended.
So today, we honor them as well. We thank them for carrying burdens most of us can only imagine, and for the sacrifice they carry in the loss of someone they loved deeply in service to this nation.
Memorial Day asks something of us in return.
It asks us not only to remember the fallen, but to live in a way worthy of what they and their families have given to us.
Gratitude is important, but gratitude alone is not enough.
We best honor their sacrifice by refusing to waste the freedoms they preserved.
By living with integrity.
By showing compassion.
And by living with purpose.
The fallen no longer have the opportunity to shape the future. We do.
We should use our time well. Use our talents well. Serve others well.
Because the greatest tribute we can offer those who gave up their futures is to live lives worthy of their sacrifice.
Memorial Day reminds us that freedom comes at a cost, not measured in dollars but in lives given in service to others. It was secured by those who gave everything — their lives, their futures, and all they might have become.
May we never reduce their sacrifice to a single date on a calendar.
May we remember the lives behind the uniforms.
May we honor the families who continue to bear the loss.
And may we live in a way that proves their sacrifice was not in vain.
Thank you.
Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Rachel Marciniec served in the United States Navy from 2005 to 2010, attaining the rank of Petty Officer 2nd Class. As an aviation electronics technician, Marciniec supported P-3 Orion squadrons at the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast in Jacksonville, Florida, before transferring to the USS Tarawa (LHA-1), homeported in San Diego, California, where she was part of the team that prepared the ship for decommissioning. She then served with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12, the Golden Falcons, maintaining MH-60S Seahawk helicopters and supporting naval operations aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) until separation from service.
