IBERIA PARISH — Lee Daigle Jr. spent 20 years in Air Force Special Operations Combat Rescue — picking up wounded soldiers in active fire zones, moving from country to country, and learning just how short life can be.
Now back home in Church Point, he helps honor local service members killed in action, many of them just teenagers when they died.
For Daigle, Memorial Day is not about him.
"It's not my day because I'm still here, I'm still breathing. It's their day."
He says loss is something that never really leaves you.
"You cherish every moment, whether it's been good or bad, because you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow."
This year, students helped build crosses to represent fallen soldiers.
"We had students from Church Point High make crosses, so we had kids from Church Point make crosses for kids from Church Point that couldn't come home."
Daigle says the memorial is not just for veterans — it is for families, friends, and anyone willing to pause and remember the sacrifice behind the holiday.
Year after year, people from across Louisiana come to pay their respects, some with no personal connection at all.
"She said, 'Nobody rings his bell.' I said, 'No, a lot of the guys, their family is dying off.' She said, 'Well I'm a Lyons. Can I ring his bell?'"
Through the heat, the rain, and the long hours, the veterans keep coming back — because to them, this weekend is a promise that the people they lost will not be forgotten.
"There are two guarantees in life. You're going to be born, and you're going to die. It's what you do in the middle that counts."
