Putting the memorial in Memorial Day, the San Juan Rotary Club hosted the Farmington Healing Field and a closing program in the grassy area of the Farmington Boys and Girls Club on Monday.

More than 100 people braved the hot sun to pay their respects to San Juan County veterans and first responders, who lost their lives in the line of duty. As they sat atop the bleachers, 528 American flags fluttered in the wind, and the tingle of dog tags could be heard as the names of those lost were shared.

“What a way to honor the people who lost their lives. It’s very touching,” said San Juan Rotary President Jack Fortner. “It’s a way to release grief, deal with grief and a time of remembering.”

Farmington Sen. Bill Sharer was the keynote speaker, and he helped all, who were present remember this nation’s history of war, military conflict and the rebuilding that often occurs once the fighting ends.

Starting with WWI, Sharer presented his theme of the American military being “a force of nature,” that historically has delivered “the most damage to enemies of freedom,” but also has been there to rebuild and help in times of crisis.

“Unlike most armies, and most of the times, our military does not carry home the booty of the defeated,” Sharer said. “We rebuild what we were forced to destroy. We improve the lives of the defeated by building schools, sewer systems and roads that never existed before.”

Sharer, who served in the U.S. Army as a ranger, said, “We are the good guys.”

He asked why we gather to thank our service members and honor those lost?

His answer because “they’re willing to give all for the rest of us for enduring the physical and emotional wounds; for the missed birthdays, the missed first steps, the missed last goodbyes, the missed holidays and much more,” Shared said.

“We thank them for freedom, but we don’t need to thank them for serving. We thank them for giving,” he added. “There’s no greater love than giving you life for another.”

Sharer said “giving does not require dying, but giving everything in their life for your life.”

He also stated that the Healing Field was about remembering “those service members we cannot say ‘Thank you for your service,’ to because they did not return to us. For all those service members and for the families of thoseservice members, thank you for the gifts you gave the rest of us and I salute you.”

Sharer’s message was one of healing and hope, but also one that recognized war is both devastating and political and that the “force of nature” that is the U.S. military can only be stopped by politicians and by America itself.

“We are very proud of our military, proud of their service,” said Carol Kittle, of Farmington, after the event. Her son, Charles Kittle, a retired master of arms, master of chief petty officer, sang the National Anthem at the event.

Bob Stemsrud, a retired surgeon and Vietnam Veteran, attended the service on his own and walked up to another Vietnam Veteran to welcome him home and thank him for his service.

Welcoming a Vietnam Veteran home is something that is done out of respect for those, who returned in the late ’60s and early ’70s and were not welcomed home.

“Vietnam was the war that turned Americans against the U.S. military, and I find that shameful, but it did happen,” Sharer said. “The service members returning from Vietnam were not greeted with, ‘Thank you for your service.’ They were yelled at. They were spit upon. They were denied jobs.”

On this Memorial Day, Stemsrud worked to correct that with his greeting. He was a flight surgeon, who went into the service as a doctor with the HS6 Helicopter Squadron. His work included rescuing Air Force pilots off the coast of Vietnam.

Their plane was either shot down or had a mechanical failure and “the only way they could survive was to into the Gulf of Tonkin,” Stemsrud said.

He looked at the Monday service as a “time to honor all of my fellow pilots, who were dedicated and very committed. All of them did their best away from home and family,” Stemsrud said.

The Farmington Healing Field is the main fundraising activity of the San Juan Rotary Club, and Fortner said this year the event raised $25,000.

The money will be used to support literacy in two elementary schools next school year by providing books for students and encouraging reading.