Visitors walk among the graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
Fallon’s Linsey Golding considers Memorial Day to be a special occasion to honor fallen military men and women.
Golding is part of an organization called Armor Down that rehabilitates veterans after they return from deployment by teaching them about mindfulness.
“It’s basically yoga, but it allows veterans to take charge of their own bodies and minds,” Golding explained.
As a member of the United States Air Force, Golding said Armor Down hosts its Mindful Memorial Day when members have a ribbon for every service man and woman who died in theater since Sept. 11, 2001. The organization distributed 8,786 ribbons this year at the Arlington National Cemetery.
What made this so special for Golding is what she did after she received the names, which were arranged in the order to the date when they died.
“I was going to finger through them when the first name I saw on the sheet was someone from Fallon, Spec. (Jason) Disney,” she said. “Seeing his name was what sparked my wanting to find people from Fallon and anybody that I came across from Fallon. Since the two casualties from Fallon are not buried in Arlington, I decided to find all of the names from Northern Nevada that were buried here. I then went and visited their graves and it was such an emotional experience. I think it was because some of these people are my age and it just kind of hit like … wow, that could be me.”
Golding’s compassion hasn’t stopped there, though.
Once she was conducting honor visits, when the rain was pouring hard. She said no one braved the weather to visit the graves … or so she thought.
She encountered a woman whose son was buried at the cemetery, and Golding had the soldier’s ribbon with her. What followed was a conversation and how the mother, who is in the Air Force as is her husband, told Golding about her son, Cpl. Michael Pursel.
“She then invited me out to see her the next day, and we chatted for about five hours, so much so that I got sunburned,” Golding recalled. “But she gave me his bracelet, and I promised her that I would visit Michael as often as I could, which I plan to do at least once a month since they live in Utah.”
Golding and the corporal’s mother exchanged phone numbers, while learning more about the woman.
“She made a bracelet for President Trump as well as the First Lady and literally charged through the Secret Service and gave it to him,” she said. “She does so many things in honor of her son, and families like hers are the reason we do what we do.”
Golding said these celebrations are not only to honor the deceased service men and women but also to remember and show the survivors their loved one will never be forgotten.