April 4, 2017 - Shelby County VFW Post 8904 and the Auxiliary gathered on the downtown Center square at the Veterans memorial to honor those who served during "Operation Restore Hope" including Veteran Sean Martin.
Larry Hume, Quartermaster, opened the program, "I would like to welcome you all today on this beautiful, glorious day that the good Lord has given us," which was followed by a prayer given by Cynthia Islas, Post Chaplain.
Honoring those who served in Somalia, Hume said, "Americans consider themselves to be a compassionate people, and the United States military has a long tradition of humanitarian relief operations both within and outside the continental United States. And never has this humanitarian impulse proven more dangerous to follow than in 1992 when the United States intervened to arrest famine in the midst of an ongoing civil war in the East African country of Somalia. Ultimately hundreds of thousands were saved from starvation, but unintended involvement in Somalia’s civil strife cost the lives of thirty American Soldiers, four Marines, and eight Air Force personnel during the years of 1992 to 1994. The American military has established the conditions for peace in midst of a famine and civil war but unlike later in Bosnia, the factions were not exhausted from the fighting and were not yet willing to stop killing each other and anyone caught in the middle. There was no peace to keep and the United States withdrew all military combat troops in March of 1994. The American G.I. had, as always, done their best under a difficult circumstance to perform a complex and often confusing mission. The best military in the world can only lay the foundation for peace; it cannot create peace itself."
Hume then introduced post member, Sean Martin, who served in Somalia and asked him to hang the memorial wreath. Martin was asked to speak and he recounted his travels in Somalia which began in Mogadishu where they would make supply runs and ended near the border of Ethiopia before being pulled out of Somalia, "I was only about 15 miles from the Ethiopian border and we were up there drilling water wells, mainly just drilling water wells and acting as support for the French Foreign Legion."
Taps was presented by post member John Piersol to end the program.
