“Today is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home.”

Keith McQuait, commander of American Legion Post 304, Jim Thorpe, offered these words to remind of us what Memorial Day is about.

“This is not Veterans Day; it’s not a celebration,” McQuait said. “It’s a day of solemn contemplation for the cost of freedom. Thank you to all the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Our nation owes you a great debt that we can never fully repay. As we leave here today, let us never forget their sacrifice.

“There’s still more than 81,600 men and women who are missing in action from all wars and conflicts of all the United States. We should spare no effort to repatriate the remains of those who died so bravely in the defense of liberty.”

Members of Jim Thorpe American Legion Post 304 held shortened services at the Mauch Chunk Cemetery, Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery, St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Christ Lutheran Church Cemetery in Penn Forest, the Old Albrightsville Cemetery, and at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Cemetery in Albrightsville on Monday.