MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / May 27, 2000

LAPLACE – Over the last century, millions of Americans have served in the armed forces of this country.

They have given up their jobs, their families and in some cases their very lives so that the rest of us may enjoy the freedoms this country was based upon.

Friday morning over a hundred people from around the River Parishes came to the LaPlace Holiday Inn to remember those fellow Americans and to say thank you to those who served their country from World War Two until the current day.

The occasion was the second annual Get High on Life Memorial Day prayer breakfast hosted by Harold Keller and his Get High on Life ministry.

“I want to thank those who served,” Keller told the packed room. “We wantto honor those who served in the military.” Danny Louque led the gathering in prayer. The Destrehan High School AirForce Junior ROTC presented the colors with Dianna Duffy singing the national anthem.

Keller recalled that he was watching the Reserve-St. James football gamewhen he learned that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. But he said while hewas in a football stadium on that fateful day, Nancy Acosta was in Pearl Harbor. Acosta brought the dress she wore that day to the breakfast.Hermain LeMoine and Dr. Roy Carubba played the hymns for each of thebranches as the veterans of each stood up. The names of those from theRiver Parishes who gave their lives in World War II were then read off followed by the playing of “Taps.””We don’t always realize what those people gave us,” Keller said.

Keller then introduced Henry Edler, a veteran of the Vietnam War who was injured in the conflict.

“I was just glad to serve my country,” Edler said. “If I had to do it all overagain, I would. It was the right thing to do. It was what God wanted me todo at the time. I have no regrets.”The breakfast ended with the gathering singing a rendition of “God Bless America.”

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