ARKANSAS MEMORIAL SERVICE - While many traditional Memorial Day ceremonies had been canceled across the nation due Covid-19 public safety concerns, there was a smaller event that took place yesterday in Arkansas as Governor Asa Hutchinson took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetary in North Little Rock. Although the service was not open to the public, Governor Hutchinson made some remarks as the event was being streamed live on the internet. Hutchinson spoke of the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the nation, comparing it to adversaries fought in past wars.
"Today we face another enemy. It is a deadly virus, cannot be seen. It silently attacks and kills," Hutchinson said. "Almost 100,000 Americans have lost their lives within 100 days as a result of this new enemy. How do we respond? Well, we respond the same as Americans have responded for more than 200 years: with grit by calling upon the strength of the American character, and the resilience of the American spirit."
Hutchinson spoke of a how America faced another pandemic, more than 100 years ago. He talked about a photo he saw of a football game in Atlanta, Georgia taken in 1918, near the end of World War I. The Allies were close to a victory in Europe, but the nation was being devastated by the so-called “Spanish flu pandemic” which killed 675,000 Americans.
"In the stands you saw all of the fans wearing facecoverings and appropriately socially-distancing six feet apart," Hutchinson explained. "That was over 100 years ago. They reflected the spirit of our great country, war in Europe and a deadly virus at home, yet life went on with common sense protections."
The Governor also expressed gratitude to the work being done by frontline medical professionals and called upon the American Spirit which replaces fear with action, common sense and compassion.