“Do we seek in our own heart the meaning and the honor of what it is to be called a citizen of the United States of America?” 

That’s the question Congressman Clay Higgins posed Monday evening to a crowd of more than 100 men, women and children who gathered at Bouligny Plaza to commemorate Memorial Day.

“We think about our brothers and sisters who have passed who wore the uniform and fought in courage,” Higgins said.

Iberia Veterans Association held the Memorial Day celebration that included prayers, patriotic songs, laying of a memorial wreath, a table set in honor of prisoners of war and persons missing in action, a 21-gun volley and a cannon salute.

“Today we are memorializing our deceased veterans,” Willard Landry, Post Commander of VFW Post 1982, said. “It’s paying tribute. They gave the ultimate sacrifice. It has nothing to do with barbecue.”

Landry said this occasion also gives an opportunity for local veterans to pause and remember the bond they share.

“The veteran unity is getting stronger and stronger,” Landry said. 

“We just started having meetings with Larry Richard, the (Iberia) parish president and we’re getting different posts to come together. We have to come together. We came together for the war. There was no black no white, no Indian,” he said.  

Olena Arrington, a local VFW member who serves the group as secretary and Honor Guard member, said her zeal for service is not just patriotic but personal as well. 

“We visit the nursing homes and have conversations with veterans there,” Arrington said. 

“My brother was a Vietnam veteran who survived but later died of cancer. I wear his dog tag and he’s with me wherever I go,” she said.

Monday’s crowd was decorated with veterans hats and those who gave a military salute to the nation’s flag they once served.

New Iberia resident Mike Lucia, who served in the U.S. Army in the 1960s, said the holiday is an  emotional one. 

“A spirit of camaraderie is the main thing,” Lucia said. “To know we all served in one way or another in one branch or another for the same cause — freedom,”

“We have to remember the fallen that didn’t come back and the families that were affected,” Ron Cutrera, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said. “It’s a ripple effect. When someone loses their life or suffers serious injury it doesn’t just affect the veteran but everybody,” 

Caroline Verret Wright is one person who came to Monday’s celebration carrying a picture of her uncle, Lionel Verret, who was 19 when he died in the Korean War. 

“He served in the Navy, his plane was shot down over the Marshall Islands, all they found was the wheel,” she said. “My heart is endeared to all the people who are serving and have served.”

And then there were those who supported Monday’s celebration without a personal story of loss but a sense of  empathy for those who gave their all.  

Aboney Rose brought her toddler son, Chance, her mother and her sisters to the event.  

“I felt it was important  to come because people have given their lives to sacrifice for us and we should come and show their families that they are supported,” Rose said.

Monday’s Memorial Day events marked the 150th anniversary of the holiday being celebrated.