Memorial Day speech: Lest We Forget

Dr. Rachel Russo is an attending trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist at UC Davis Health, where she provides care for injured and critically ill patients, including those in need of emergency surgery.

She is also a veteran of the Air Force, where she served as a critical care air transport surgeon at David Grant Medical Center on Travis Air Force Base, the largest Air Force medical center in the continental United States. During her service, she also pursued research focused on combat casualty care and other areas, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Even before coming to work at UC Davis, Dr. Russo was an Aggie, having attended UC Davis for her surgical internship and residency and to earn a master’s degree in translational science.

Ladies and gentlemen, students, friends and family of the fallen, I’d like to thank you for joining together today in remembrance of our Gold Star Aggies.

As we reflect on the last year, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the uncertain times in which we find ourselves. 

Our students, our community—all of us—have been impacted by the daily stress of looming threats from near and far. 

In times like these, I look to the past for solace and courage. As a society, we have been through many similar struggles before. 

As we reflect on the lives of our Gold Star Aggies cut short, we can be inspired by their service and their bravery. And we can learn from them lessons that are relevant today. 

Lest we forget.

For me, that phrase has never just been about history. It has always been about people.

I am a trauma surgeon. I am a veteran of the United States Air Force. And I am the granddaughter of a World War II pilot.

Some of my earliest memories of service come from sitting with my grandfather, listening to his stories.

He flew in the Pacific. But when he talked about the war, it wasn’t about heroics. 

It was about people—about the men he served with, the uncertainty they faced, the responsibility they carried.

And sometimes, he talked about those who inspired him. 

He had a love for underdogs, those who were underestimated and rose to greatness over adversity.

We lived on the Florida side of the Alabama state line, not far from Tuskegee. 

He spoke about the Tuskegee Airmen with a quiet respect that stayed with me. 

These African American pilots were the best of the best, fighting for freedom and equality on the battlefield and on the home front.1

And he spoke about Nisei soldiers, Japanese American servicemembers, who were key to American Military Intelligence in the Pacific.2 

Men who fought valiantly despite heavy casualties to become one of the most decorated units for its size and length of service. 

All the while fighting for a country that was holding their families in internment camps.

He told me about the WASPS—no, not the insect—the Women Air Force Service Pilots, an elite group of flying aces 1000 strong, that, like the Tuskegee Airmen and the Nisei, were denied military honors or recognition of their service for more than 50 years.3 

It was one of my earliest lessons: that, while fear can divide us, identity, belonging, and loyalty to each other can overcome … if we are willing to persist.

Those stories stayed with me. 

He taught me that it didn’t matter who you were or where you come from. What mattered was actions—what you contribute and your integrity—even when … especially when … others fail to recognize it.

So, when I told people I wanted to be a combat surgeon, I didn’t think of it as unusual.

But others did.

When a small blonde girl—with what was at the time a debutante drawl I have worked hard to lose (with mediocre success)—said she wanted to take care of the most critically injured patients on the battlefield, people didn’t always take that seriously.

There were expectations. Quiet ones… And loud ones. About what I could be—and what I could not.

But I had already heard those stories.

I had already seen what happens when the ability of an individual with the power of persistence is underestimated.

So, I kept going.

I joined the Air Force through the Health Professions Scholarship Program, and eventually I came here—to UC Davis.

I traveled 3000 miles—my first time to California—because I had heard about this place. 

About its long-standing partnership with the military. 
About its commitment to inclusion. 
About a phrase that now defines it: You Belong Here.

And I found that to be true.

I found women in surgery. Women in leadership. Even a small group of other military women trauma surgeons.

I found a community.

I served most of my military career here, between UC Davis and Travis Air Force Base. I built my life here. I raised my children here.

And when my military service came to an end, I had a choice. We could go anywhere.

I gave that choice to my family.

They chose to stay.

Because of this community.
Because of this university.
Because of its values.
Because of all of you.

Lest we forget.

Because this place—and what it stands for—did not come easily.

During World War II, more than 700 students across the University of California system—including students here at UC Davis—were forced to leave their studies.4

They didn’t graduate, at least not initially.

They were sent to internment camps because of who they were – citizens born to immigrants.

They had no choice. It was federal policy.

And institutions like UC Davis were placed in a difficult position—caught between those policies and their responsibility to their students. The university flexed and pivoted to help many students complete their degrees and even hold graduation ceremonies behind barbed wire.

Among those displaced students was Masami Sakamoto.5

An Aggie. Someone who belonged to this campus.

His family was incarcerated during the war.

And yet, he chose to serve. 

He joined the 442nd Regimental Combat Team—a unit made up largely of Japanese American soldiers, many of whom volunteered after they and their families were detained.

He was killed in France in March of 1945 while attempting to disarm a booby trap.

At that same time, other members of his unit were moving through Germany, helping liberate portions of Dachau concentration camp.6, 7

I want that to sit with you for a moment. 

Men whose families were confined—helping to free others from confinement.

That is our history. Aggies that rise above.

Similar struggles were faced across the UCs. 

During that time, women were told to enlist to free a man for war. But when they stepped forward, they did far more than fill space. 

UCLA student Marjorie Laverne “Margie” Davis did more than step up, she soared. She trained as a WASP pilot flying military transport missions.8

She was 24 years old when she died in a crash during a routine flight. And when she died, like the 37 others like her, she was not given military honors.

There was no flag on her coffin. No formal recognition of her service. 

But then… that’s not why she did it. 

She was compelled to contribute and to push boundaries. 

Her brother, inspired by her service, was also serving as a corporal in Europe. 

He never forgot. 

He was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism after running into a burning munitions dump under enemy fire to rescue 3 fallen soldiers.9 

He kept the mangled, partially melted key from that mission around his neck as a reminder of how close he came to joining his sister. He never forgot her sacrifice. 

His one wish is that she be remembered for her service as he has been. 

One Aggie Veteran did survive long enough to see the past right itself. Professor Robert A. Matthews was a Tuskegee Airman who returned from war to help build this institution through thirty years of service to the community.10 50 years after WWII ended, the Tuskegee Airmen were finally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.11

When I think about Memorial Day, I don’t just think about those who never came home.

I think about my grandfather.

I think about the stories he told me—and the ones he didn’t.

I think about the patients I cared for in uniform.

I think about the families who carry those losses forward, and the burden carried by those who cared for the wounded that failed to survive.

And I think about the oath we all took to defend the US and its constitution – including that bit about all people being created equal – against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Across all of these stories, we see the same truth: You Belong Here. 

It’s the UC Davis way. No matter what we have to face, we face it together. 

An opportunity to shine will present itself. Necessity mandates it. 

And when the moment comes, we must each be ready to deliver a performance that cannot be denied.

The Gold Star Aggies helped win a war.

But they also helped change the country they came home to.

Even if recognition came too late.

Sometimes after they were already gone.

And that is why we say, ‘lest we forget.’

Not just to remember sacrifice.

But to remember how easily we can let fear divide us. 

How quickly we can be led to malign each other based on superficial categorizations that don’t define us. 

How long it can take to right wrongs. 

And how important it is to protect what was gained.

To ensure that opportunity is not narrowed again.

To ensure that when people step forward to serve—they are seen, they are supported, and they are recognized.

Memorial Day asks us to honor the fallen.

But it also asks us to carry forward what they reveal about who we are—of who we are capable of becoming.

Lest we forget.

• 1

  https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/tuskegee-airmen

• 2

  https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/442nd-regimental-combat-team

• 3

  https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/women-wings-legacy-wasp

• 4

  Kidder W, Sakaki J, Simmons D. No Sanctuary: Japanese American Internment and the Long Arc of Academic Freedom and Shared Governance. Redbook. 2010;96. https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/news/source/honorarydegrees.august2009.html

• 5

  https://goldenmemorybook.ucdavis.edu/gold-star-aggie/masami-sakamoto

• 6

  https://www.goforbroke.org/learn/conflicts/european-theater/central-europe-campaign

• 7

  https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn511077

• 8

  https://cafriseabove.org/marjorie-laverne-davis

• 9

  https://www.facebook.com/FlygirlsWW2/posts/as-he-approached-his-100th-birthday-on-august-9-world-war-ii-veteran-wayne-c-dav/1582673013101012/

• 10

  https://eps.ucdavis.edu/people/inmemoriam/matthews

• 11

  https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196348/tuskegee-airmen-congressional-gold-medal/