On Veterans Day, we show our gratitude to all those who serve their nation in the Armed Forces. On Memorial Day, we honor the fallen.
“It’s not about barbecues,” Krystal Davis says, simply. “It’s about remembering those who you know and who you don’t know. Their sacrifice allows you to take a day with your family and enjoy it without worry of someone hurting you or harming you.”
It’s a national holiday, but more so it’s a time set aside to commemorate those who paid the ultimate price, laying down their lives for the sake of their fellow Americans and innocents around the world.
It’s a meaningful distinction — especially for Gold Star spouses and the families of those who gave their lives in service of the United States.
- Kilgore’s annual Memorial Day Observance begins at 9 a.m. Monday (weather permitting) at the U.S. Veterans Monument at Harris Street Park. Learn More: Event Page
Kenneth B. May, Jr.
(1984-2010)
In 2010, Mother’s Day fell on Sunday, May 9. That Monday, on May 10, Krystal marked her second wedding anniversary to Marine Sgt. Kenneth B. May, Jr.
The next day, she learned of his death in Afghanistan.
The 26-year-old Kilgore Marine was one of two Texas infantrymen killed May 11, 2010, in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Sgt. May, along with 21-year-old Marine Cpl. Jeffrey W. Johnson, died from the blast of an Improvised Explosive Device while on a dismounted patrol during Operation Enduring Freedom. According to a 2010 news release from the 1st Marine Division, the Kilgore man and his Tomball comrade were anti-tank assault guided missilemen assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif.
It was the 2004 Kilgore College graduate’s third tour after serving two in Iraq.
“It was a very horrible time,” Krystal recalls, 15 years on. “I stayed in California for a week before I came here to receive his remains out at Gregg County and, then a few days later, the funeral.”
The Marine was laid to rest in Danville Cemetery, where his father, Ken Sr., vigilantly maintains the flags of U.S. and USMC that fly over the black, etched headstone — “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” (John 15:13)
Karen May, too, is always championing and promoting Kenny’s memory, Krystal says, full of life and pouring it into her daughter, Kalynne, and grandsons.
“She has a great community of other Gold Star moms and families that she has built over the years that is very much a part of her daily life,” according to Krystal. Likewise, Kenny’s memory endures through her family today — husband, Adam, and children, Landon and Emma. “Every day of our lives, Kenny is a part of, because he’s a part of me. My children have been raised with the knowledge of him, his sacrifice, honoring that and learning how to put the negative times behind us and remember and focus on the positive times.”
A survivor of a fallen service member, among the many living today, Krystal makes a point to visit Kenny’s graveside each summer at some point between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July for a quiet time.
“As I began to put my life back together. I met Adam and we were married. We got pregnant with Emma, and she ended up being born on May 30,” Krystal says. Her daughter’s birth transformed what had become a traumatic, difficult weekend and month once more into a time of love. “God has given me the opportunity of celebrating the joy of being a mom on that same weekend.
“I’m able to celebrate Memorial Day followed by my daughter’s birthday. That is how I’m able to continue to find peace and strength and joy despite the memory of the heartache.”
Her enduring hope, for Kenny’s sake and others, is that the nation and its people will actually pause on Memorial Day and consider its meaning now and for the future.
It’s what Kenny fought and died for.
“United we stand and divided we fall,” Krystal says. “I think that in today’s society there’s so much focus on our individual differences and our individual difference of opinions, and there’s a lot of heat and emotion with that and a lot of discord.
“If we can get back to acceptance of our differences and find a way to work together, we would be able to withstand a lot of things that are breaking us apart. That’s what our men and women have to do in the armed services. They have to work together despite their differences and work together with their strengths.”
The people of the United States can come together on Memorial Day and beyond, Krystal hopes, as one nation, under God.
“Amen,” she said.
