By Alison McFerrin

The Selma Times-Journal

Memorial Day will be punctuated by one minute of silence as Selma observes its third annual “Moment of Remembrance.”

“If you’re on the park playing games, recreation, or whatever—swimming, fishing, having a picnic — stop for that one minute and just reflect,” Selma Mayor George Evans said.

Evans initiated the event in Selma when he read about the event being observed elsewhere while he was preparing to give a speech for Veteran’s Day.

“Trying to gather history and facts, I ran across that program,” Evans said. “I said, ‘My God, what’s wrong with one minute for someone whose family member gave their life so that we might have the security we currently have?”

A brief program will precede the minute of silence, during which Evans and Dallas County Probate Judge Kim Ballard will make brief speeches. Evans said the mayors of Orrville and Valley Grande will also be present.

Ballard said they hope the event will someday be countywide, and that people throughout Dallas County will stop to observe the moment of silence.

“It’s a moment of remembering of people who fought, and some died and some were wounded, to offer us the freedom we have now,” Ballard said. “A lot of our veterans were not positively remembered … we need to give them the respect they’re due.”

As part of the effort to remember Dallas County’s fallen heroes, a banner will be on display with the names of Dallas County’s fallen heroes from War World I until the current War on Terror. The banner featured 131 names last year, and Evans said he thinks there may be only one name to add.

The Moment of Remembrance will take place in front of Selma City Hall. Sirens will mark the beginning of the minute, and the event will also feature taps by World War II veteran Jesse Sanchez and a flag raising by the fire department.

“It’s a time for us to reflect on the fact that the freedom we currently enjoy is not because of something we’ve done,” Evans said, “It’s because of what someone else did.  Someone else went across the water, left their families, to fight for us.”

The afternoon event at city hall is just part of a number of events scheduled Monday to honor fallen veterans.

The Veterans of Foreign War Post 3016 will again host their annual Memorial Day service at Memorial Stadium beginning at 11 a.m. Ballard said both services — although a different times and different locations — go to share the same message.

“It’s not two separate entities,” Ballard said. “We’re both doing the same thing., just in a different way. I think they will enhance each other.”

“It’s not two separate entities,” Ballard said. “We’re both doing the same thing, just in a different way.”