Among the many Memorial Day ceremonies in Montana was one at the Fallen Soldier Memorial on the University of Montana campus in Missoula.
"If you’re ever looking for a hero, and you’re walking around the Missoula community, come look here, we have heroes right here," said Dustin Monroe, a veterans advocate who served in the Army in Iraq.
Monroe, who is enrolled in the Assinboine tribe, spoke at the ceremony about a friend of his from Browning, who he grew up with in Great Falls. A friend who was killed in combat in Afghanistan.
"Today it’s truly an honor for me to speak about my friend Tony Burnside," Monroe said. "It’s kind of hard, I’ve lost many friends, back home, too, to suicide. Here in Montana I’ve lost a lot of friends.
"It’s not easy, a lot of times a lot of us don’t look like we’re suffering from anything, but a lot of us are. A lot of us, you never leave the war, and that’s why even Vietnam vets, World War II vets share this commonality. We fight the battle inside our heads. A lot of us that come back, war never ceased for us," Monroe said.
About 40 people assembled around him at the Memorial. He stood before a color guard of the flags of Montana’s tribal nations.
Monroe recalled returning from Iraq, and seeing his friend Tony, whose tribal name was Tony Many Hides, again.
"I remember, Tony had joined the military. I was really proud of him," Monroe said. "I remember being really proud of him because he was really doing something with his life. He had a couple children. That's the reason, to me, why he did it. He didn't do it for himself, he did it for his children. He joined the Army.
"That's why, when I look at his little boys, and he has one little boy, if you look up Tony, he looks just like him," Monroe said. "I love that little boy."
Monroe told stories about his friend that brought him to life as kind, funny, loyal and fiercely competitive.
"He'd have probably told you worse stories about me," Monrole laughed, before turning serious again.
"I come here in a good heart, because I know he's in a good way, and I know he smiles down on us, and I know he's happy."
Veterans Kevin Kicking Woman and Ray Kingfisher drummed and sang to end the ceremony.
