LITTLE ROCK — The candidates for Arkansas’ four congressional districts spent Monday at cemeteries, memorials and home with their families.
Several said their experience in the military or that of family members caused them to pause and reflect.
Two of Arkansas’ congressional districts, the 1st and the 4th, will have a runoff election for the Democratic nomination June 12.Democrats in the 2nd and 3rd Districts were not challenged in the primary.
Republicans locked up their nominees in the May 22 primary, including three sitting Republican congressmen and 4th District Republican nominee Tom Cotton of Dardanelle, a former Army captain.
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, a Republican from Little Rock, spoke at the Maumelle Veterans Memorial and throughout the course of the day listed on Twitter the names of Arkansas military personnel who have died.
Griffin is a U.S. Army Reserve officer.
“I think it impacts people more when you give an individual name ... where people can say ‘that’s a real person with a real family.’ I just thought it was a good way of personalizing the loss,” he said.
Griff in said people throughout the year should remember military personnel who have died by taking care of family members left behind.
“We talk all about remembering those who gave their lives but there is really no way to recognize their lives as much as by remembering their family,” he said. “If we want to have an impact beyond the 24 hours that is Memorial Day that is a good way to do it. The other 364 days of the year the need is still there.”
Griffin’s Democratic opponent, attorney Herb Rule of Little Rock, who could not be reached for comment Monday, posted a message on his Twitter account, asking people to “take a moment to remember those that sacrificed it all for your freedoms.”
In the 1st District, Democratic state Rep. Clark Hall attended a veterans celebration in his hometown of Marvell, and he spent the rest of day with family.
He said that before the last decade “someone from my family has always been in the military ... so it means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family. We appreciate what the military has done for us, not just the ones we have lost but the ones that were injured.”
His opponent in the Democratic runoff, Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington of Jonesboro, attended Memorial Day services in Craighead County and in Blytheville.
“Memorial Day is the day that we remember the folks who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom,” Ellington said. “It’s sad that there weren’t as many young people at the service.”
Ellington said in the afternoon he went to visit the graves of his father and two uncles who served in the military.
State Sen. Gene Jeffress, 4th District Democratic candidate,said he spent time with family at home watching memorial services on TV.
“It’s a day that I reflect on where our country has been and the service of those who have served and are still serving,” said Jeffress, who is from Louann. “It’s been a privilege to live in this country.”
His runoff opponent, attorney Q. Byrum Hurst of Hot Springs, viewed a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall at the Hot Springs Airport and then attended a Garland County veterans memorial event where he gave the invocation.
He said it can be easy to get wrapped up in treating Memorial Day as just a day off of work.
“We have a tendency to do that sometimes and we don’t think about the significance of the event,” he said. “It’s really important that we honor and we celebrate people who have made the ultimate sacrifice to our country,”
Cotton, who will face either Hurst or Jeffress in the November general election, attended a Memorial Day event in Hot Springs Village.
Cotton served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It’s our most sacred secular holiday,” he said. “It’s a time to remember in particular the people we knew overseas who didn’t come back with us.”
Ken Aden, 3rd Congressional District Democratic candidate, a former Army staff sergeant, said he attended memorial events over the weekend, but he spent Monday reflecting with his grandfather. He said his father and great-grandfather were veterans.
“It’s a good time to pause and reflect on all of the sacrifice that good men and women have made for this nation,” said Aden, who is from Russellville. “Being a veteran, you think about them all the time ... but it’s good to have a special day set aside to honor their sacrifice.”
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Rogers, spoke to a Bella Vista veterans group and spent the rest of the day with family, according to his campaign.
He is a retired colonel in the Arkansas Army National Guard, according to his campaign website.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 05/29/2012