On this Memorial Day, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation remembers the great sacrifices the United States military has made throughout history in defending the freedom of our country and the world. We also acknowledge the sacrifices of Ukrainian-American veterans who have served and fought alongside Americans of other ethnic backgrounds. Across the Potomac, facing today’s Memorial Day parade on Constitution Avenue, stands the Marine Corps Memorial—a monument that genuinely reflects the makeup of the United States military that has protected and continues to protect the people of the United States. The soldiers raising the flag—Sergeant Michael Strank, a Ukrainian-American who was born in a region of Czechoslovakia now part of Slovakia before immigrating to the United States and settling in Franklin Borough near Johnstown, Pennsylvania—and three members of his rifle squad: Corporal Harlon H. Block from Yorktown, Texas; Private First Class Franklin R. Sousley of Hill Top, Fleming County, Kentucky; and Private First Class Ira Hayes, an Akimel O’odham American from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. Only Ira Hayes left Iwo Jima alive, but they—and all of our American soldiers who gave their lives for us—are remembered and honored today, and appreciated always. (fb)

https://youtu.be/Rt9pv9du8bU?si=cQtoD9zzPugOO2O- (fb)