Dear Fellow McKeesporter's: I live on the 14th floor of a high rise apartment in Arlington, Va. I have probably one of the most spectacular views of our Nation's Capitol in the world. From my perch I can see all of our nation's sacred memorials. Each morning I watch the first glimmers of light on the eastern horizon, as the sun comes up I watch it start ring the Capitol Dome with light. My first thought is the question raised at the end of our national anthem. "Oh, does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave. O're the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. The last line of our national anthem raises an important question. It's not about war, or glory but a simple question eloquently crafted - Does that banner still wave? Are you and I still keeping faith with the ideals upon which out country was founded? Are we still securing the rights of all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Are we still striving with this great experiment in democracy? I'm always gratified when I see our flag flying over the Capitol dome. As the sun slowly and gently fills the mall I watch the Washington Monument and then the Lincoln Memorial spotlighted by the sun. Last I look out my north window at Arlington National Cemetery and think of the poem "In Flander's Fields, row on row" as the stark white marble markers of heroes dead come to light. This past Memorial Day I read to myself the old hymn "For All The Saints Who From Their Labors Rest, Who by faith to the world expressed." I thought about my days as a child in McKeesport when the 5th Avenue was lined with thousands to watch the Memorial Day Parade and the Armistice Day Parade, (for the younger people that's Veterans Day.) At 11:11am all the church bells in the city would peal forth in remembrance. Even as a youngster I can remember my mother telling me that when the flag passed to put my hand over my heart and remove my cap. She said it was a mark of respect. I remember also on Armistice Day in my youth the sale of Poppies for the DAV. In more modern history this coming week marks the 20th Anniversary of the AIDS crisis. It has struck every city, every town and Boro. Tomorrow I will be reading part of a list of names of those who have died in a Memorial Service. I know some of you will have a negative reaction to my mentioning this. Being gay is not something that all families are willing to list on their family trees. Some families feel a stigma so they list the cause of death as cancer or some such excuse. I have two requests to make. I think this group can be trusted to take my message to heart. AIDS has cost the lives of McKeesporter's. They may be your relatives or friends - please remember them this Saturday. It may be their name that I read on Saturday in front of the White House. I am doing no less for these members of our community than I did when I placed a rose underneath the name of Jimmy Long at the Viet Nam Memorial last Monday. A friend of youth, snatched in a war that few understood. My generation has been struck twice - we lost so many of our friends in Viet Nam, remember the Deer Hunter and many Porter's like me have lost many, many friends of youth. Since 1981 I have lost 53 friends to AIDS. I would ask every member of this list who attends church to light a candle, say a rosary, offer a prayer - first for the veterans of all of our wars; second for those who have struggled to achieve freedom from Dr. King, Frederick Douglas Turner, the Waters family, Dr. Hadley. Do this for those friends and family and McKeesport's who have struggled for Gay Rights either in the wars, or in quiet persistence. Pray for all who know the question - Does that banner YET WAVE O're the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave? The following piece from a friend of mine sums up my feelings of this past Memorial Day and the one approaching. I hope you read it in the spirit in which it's meant. Marc --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gays and Lesbian's Remember On Memorial Day REMEMBERING OUR OWN by Scott Miller On Memorial Day, as we remember those who gave their lives in service of our country, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community have our own martyrs and heroes to thank and remember. In that spirit, I would like to suggest honoring our fallen brothers and sisters. This year, I am lighting 6 candles. Each candle holds special significance. With the first candle, we remember the members of our GLBT family who fought and died in service to our country. Despite the fact that our nation's military has chosen to create a wall of GLBT invisibility and failed to recognize that thousands of gays and lesbians have not only served, but died, to preserve freedom in a land that does not afford us civil rights, we light a candle in remembrance. We also honor those in the military who have died at the hands of other enlisted Americans, blinded by hatred and bigotry. We honor our fallen brethren, such as Pfc. Barry Winchell, whose only 'crime' was not being heterosexual. And, in lighting the candle, we recognize how doubly hard the sacrifices are for those in the GLBT family who not only serve proudly, but make sacrifices in their personal lives to be able to continue to serve, without intimidation or harassment. The second candle is lit in remembrance of those who have been killed and systematically murdered by their own governments, solely for their alternative sexuality. Let us not forget the thousands of gays who were slaughtered during the Holocaust. Let us never forget that after World War 2, when the concentration camps were liberated, incarcerated gays were left to continue rotting in prisons. Let us light a candle to remember the American gays who were executed for 'crimes against nature.' In certain other countries, not being heterosexual still carries a potential death sentence. Each day new horror stories emerge...from every corner of the globe. It is easy to lose track of the large numbers of those who still suffer persecution, while we go to fundraisers and cocktail parties safe in our ivory towers. But never forget those who suffer, merely because of who they are. The 3rd candle is for the victims of anti-GLBT violence. Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, J.R. Warren Jr., Danny Lee Overstreet....the list goes on and on. I would ask everyone to visit the list of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered, who have been killed, just since the Shepard slaying. The stories need to be told. Eyes need to be opened. Visit http://www.usqueers.com/usQueers_murdered.html and light a candle in their memory. And don't forget the thousands of gays murdered before Shepard, when it seems that nobody cared, because it was decided that the life of a non-heterosexual was somehow worth less. As you light this 3rd candle, vow to never allow our slain brothers and sisters out of our thoughts and prayers. The fourth candle is for the forgotten victims....our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered friends and family who have ended their lives by suicide. This candle remembers those, such as DJ Thompson, who ended his life, because he could not reconcile it with the daily messages of hate he heard from his church. We remember those children who chose to end their lives while very young, rather than confront the emotional turmoil of coming to grips with their newly emerging sexuality....and driven to their grave with taunts of 'faggot' and 'dyke' ringing in their ears. We remember those who chose to die before ever celebrating their sexuality or even possibly consummating a single relationship....choosing instead to end their lives because of the fear they were made to feel over who they were and what their bodies were expressing. We remember and honor you. The 5th candle is for those we have lost in another great battle....the battle against AIDS. Hundreds of thousands of precious lives snuffed out way before their time on this earth was meant to end. But though our brothers and sisters are gone, their loss sobered our community and made us more vigilant. There is now an organized strategy and fight, though there is such a long way to go. And many of those we lost were true heroes in the way they fought to retain their dignity to the very end. This, despite the many hurdles and obstacles they were faced with by a society that still tends to blame the victim for their predicament, instead of looking for creative solutions to prevent others from getting infected. For every smile we will never see again, or laugh we will share, or meal we will enjoy together, we light this candle in your memory. You will always be a part of who we are and what we have become. The 6th and final candle is lit for a different reason. The first 5 candles remember and honor those who died. The 6th is lit for hope and rebirth. Through the lighting of the last candle let us say a prayer for the death of homophobia and hatred. Let us remember those who died with a commitment to do our part to try and make this a world where our brothers and sisters no longer need to live their lives in darkness and fear. Through the lighting of the last candle let's do our part in transforming the horrors of the past into the promise and hope of a future filled with love, caring and commitment. Though we remember those that lost their lives, they live on through us, in the spirit and hope and courage we share as we strive to make this world a place free of bigotry and hatred. Yes, we remember our own who have fallen. And we vow to keep hope alive, so that their lives are not lost in vain." Copyright 5/24/2001 Scott Miller All rights reserved. Prologue Copyright 6/1/2001 M. G. Stauffer All Rights Reserved.