This Memorial Day, NPR readers honor the ones they’ve lost

Every year, on the last Monday in May, the U.S. honors fallen military service members for Memorial Day. The holiday, originally called Decoration Day, was formalized in 1868 by a Memorial Day Order issued by the Grand Army of the Republic’s commander in chief, John A. Logan.

For Memorial Day 2025, we asked readers to tell us about the service members they’re remembering. We heard stories from all over the U.S., about parents, grandparents, mothers and more. Here are some of our readers’ reflections.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity. 

Capt. Hans George Faltin and Spc. 5 Carl Allen Sutton

Hope Sutton of Wilmington, N.C., said she doesn’t romanticize war and feels all wars should end. “However, I believe strongly in service, honor and doing what is right,” she said. “This is what I reflect on this Memorial Day.”

Sutton’s grandfather Hans George Faltin volunteered to serve during World War II and worked as a mechanical engineer. He led a troop that went into reclaimed towns to find, defuse and learn about booby traps. His work earned him the nickname Captain Booby Trap.

“I have no idea how many men his efforts may have saved, but I have always been very proud that his service was science and that he was basically a pacifist otherwise.”

Sutton describes her father, Carl Allen Sutton, as a “sensitive and humble man.” He volunteered to serve at the start of the Vietnam War, rather than waiting to be drafted. Hope Sutton later discovered, through medical testing, that the leukemia her father died from at 38 may have been caused by Agent Orange exposure.

“As the daughter of a war veteran, I now feel a different sense of connectedness to all the other families represented by the Vietnam [Veterans] Memorial in D.C., despite my father’s name not appearing on the wall.”

Pfc. John Francis Rys

Kirsten Foster of Mason, Mich., said her great-uncle John Francis Rys was a paratrooper in the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment from Bay City, Michigan. He enlisted at 16 and was killed in action at 18, during Operation Varsity, on March 24, 1945. It was the largest single-day airborne operation in history.

“Since he never got to have a family of his own, it feels like it’s my job to keep his memory and sacrifice alive,” Foster said. “I want to tell as many people about it as possible, so everyone knows what a hero he was and what a sacrifice he made because he thought it was the right thing to do.”

Memorial Day is a “pretty somber” day for Foster, who often thinks about her great-uncle’s hopes and dreams. “That is what Memorial Day is all about — not forgetting the regular people who were put in extraordinary circumstances and paid the ultimate price.”

Navy Lt. Theodore King Higgins

Katharine Higgins was only 3 years old when her father died. Theodore King Higgins graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1957 and was stationed in San Diego when he received orders to go to Vietnam in 1964.

“Ted was lost on Feb. 11, 1964, when his A-4 Skyhawk crashed into the sea while on approach to the USS Bon Homme Richard,” Higgins said.

Now 65, Higgin said Memorial Day is a day of mourning and honor. “My mother always said that Ted was a true patriot. I don’t remember my father, but I know that he was smart and quiet and died so that Americans can live in freedom.”

Nicholas Marozsan, TMSN

Makaela Douglas of South Bend, Ind., said her grandfather, who served in a submarine during the Korean War as a Navy torpedoman’s mate seaman (TMSN), was “my entire world and best friend.”

“Memorial Day is when I honor those who have sacrificed their lives for this country,” said Douglas, 30. “I visit my grandpa’s grave and play taps on my phone for him. All the veterans have flags placed by their tombstones. Our local supermarket gives out free meals to all veterans who stop by.”

She added: “Whenever there is an individual wearing a veteran hat, jacket, etc., I make sure to go out of my way to thank them. It’s the least I could do for everything they sacrificed for me to live free.”

1st Lt. Charles M. Gavin III and Jean Hohnecker Gavin

Nancy Mixson of Rockville, Md., is honoring her mother and father for Memorial Day. Her father, Charles M. Gavin III, served with the 84th Infantry Division during World War II and helped liberate two concentration camps.

“My father was haunted until his death over the horrors of seeing these sick, emaciated people,” Mixson said.

Mixson’s mother, Jean Hohnecker Gavin, was an Army nurse at the 188th General Hospital in Cirencester, England. After her death, Mixson found letters she wrote home to an aunt in Iowa. Mixson’s father had been one of her mother’s patients. The two met on Christmas Day 1944 and were married in England the following July.

“I know that sacrifice is part of enjoying our freedoms,” Mixson said. “If we are not willing to sacrifice, we will not remain free.”

Mary Alice Putnam Vandeventer, WASP class of 44-W-7

Sheri Vandeventer’s mother, Mary Alice Putnam Vandeventer, was one of the 1,102 women pilots who were accepted into and completed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) training program to earn flight wings during World War II. These women flew various military aircraft stateside while male pilots flew combat missions overseas. They served as civilian pilots until the program was disbanded in 1944. In 1977, Congress passed a bill recognizing WASPs as veterans.

“My mother said that her service was the thing of which she was most proud in her life, because she loved to fly and because everyone wanted to do something to help the country during WWII,” Vandeventer said.

“While Memorial Day is supposed to be a day to remember those who served and died serving in the U.S. military, I use it as a day to remember all those who have served to protect our country and its citizens. It is also a time for me to remember my mother and the experience of which she was most proud.”