A former paratrooper told a crowd of around 100 people on Monday to remember all the servicemen and women who gave their lives serving their country, but to also honor and support those veterans who returned home.

“I have seen war. I have seen the toll it takes on the mind, the body, and the spirit. And like many veterans, I have known the pain of losing brothers and sisters both during war and long after coming home,” Erin Dietrich told the crowd on a warm spring day at Oregon’s Memorial Day services Monday, May 25.

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Erin Dietrich, an Army veteran, was the featured speaker at Oregon's Memorial Day Service held Monday, May 25, 2026 at the Riverside Cemetery. (Earleen Hinton)

Dietrich served active duty in the United States Army with the 108th Military Police Company, under the 503rd Military Police Battalion and with the 16th Military Police Brigade at Fort Bragg.

“I’ve lost brothers and sisters during times of conflict. And I’ve also lost people I loved long after the deployments ended. Because one of the hardest truths about war is that sometimes war doesn’t end when you come home. Sometimes it follows you,” she said.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Dietrich and her unit found themselves at the forefront of the war in Afghanistan, taking over operations in Kandahar.

“My time as a paratrooper led me into a combat-ready unit trained to deploy at a moment’s notice,” she told the crowd at the Riverside Cemetery.

“During my deployments, I served as a gunner in Kosovo. In Afghanistan, I served as a team leader, where I earned the rank of corporal. After returning home, I later earned the rank of sergeant and had the opportunity to teach the D.A.R.E. program on post,” she said. “My years in uniform taught me about discipline, sacrifice, and service, but more than anything, they taught me about people.”

Dietrich said she served beside men and women from every walk of life.

“Different backgrounds, different stories, but when we put that uniform on, we became family. We laughed together. We struggled together. We carried one another through some of the hardest moments of our lives. And like many who have served, I have also known loss.”

Dietrich, who owns and operates the Patriot Barber Shop in downtown Oregon, said the experience of war remains with those who have served.

“It can live in the body. In the mind. In sleepless nights, in old memories, in visible scars, and in the invisible ones too. The cost of service doesn’t always end on the battlefield. For many veterans, and for many military families, that cost can last a lifetime,” she said. “That is one reason Memorial Day matters so deeply.”

Dietrich said it is important to honor the men and women who never made it home and the Gold Star families who carry a loss of a loved one.

“But I also want to recognize the families who are still serving in their own way – the mothers and fathers who watch the news a little closer, the spouses who wait for the phone to ring, the children who count down the days until their loved one comes home. Because when one person serves, an entire family serves,“ she said. ”And in a world that often feels uncertain, there are still families living with that quiet weight every single day.”

She said organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Wounded Warrior Project, Wreaths Across America, and organizations like 22 Mohawks are essential to helping veterans and their families remind everyone that while some never made it home, others made it home carrying battles most people never see.

“So today, let us remember the fallen. Let us honor the families. Let us support the living. And let us never forget that freedom has never been free. To those we’ve lost, we remember you. To those still serving, we stand with you. And to those still carrying the weight, you are never alone. May we never forget,” she said.

Monday’s event was organized by Oregon VFW Post 8739 with participation by the Oregon High School Band and Scout troops.