05- CIB Austin pays honor at Memorial Day ceremony
On Monday, 26 May 2008, the Austin Chapter of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association paid tribute, honor, respect and homage to our fallen comrades from all the wars and all the campaigns at the Cook-Walden cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas. It was a fitting remembrance and gratitude to those who had made the ultimate sacrifice.
The sounds of the musical piece, Taps, begins this podcast episode — as played and interpreted by Jari Villanueva.
We also hear the words of this moving musical memento (for the history of Memorial Day and the words to Taps, click here: 
We were honored by sharing our time to give thanks to our fallen comrades with a local hero of the Operation Iraqi Freedom campaign — Alan Babin:
You can find out all about Alan Babin, his heroism and his injuries, and also his recovery from his blog called Alan’s Angels.
The CIB organization was represented in the ceremony where the “honor roll for the fallen” was sounded. This tradition has different organizations place a wreath in front of the monuments dedicated to the campaigns of World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm. The CIB Austin Chapter participated in this ceremony and saluted the CIB wreath. Among those in attendance were Commander Bobby Briscoe, XO John Torres, Tony Martinez, Jimmie Salazar and Fred Hudgeons.
In addition, the Chapter members were successful in recruiting several members at this event and shared some moments in displaying the CIB wreath at its inaugural event, with Fred Castaneda joining in (Fred was participating in the Ceremony with his 82nd Airborne Division Association).
During the event, the chapter members mingled with other combat veterans (even another one from the Americal Division) and became a regular part of the organizations that will contribute to the community and be involved in supporting veterans.
Our next episode will describe the participation of the Austin, Texas, Chapter of the CIB Association at the Re-dedication ceremony in downtown Austin of the Vietnam Veterans who did not catch the Freedom bird to return to the World. Yes, they gave their “Last Full Measure of Devotion.”
Copyright (c) 2008, Matrix Solutions Corporation, Jari Villanueva and the 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus.