This week in Aspen history

“Let us not forget the nation’s defenders,” announced a headline in the Aspen Democrat-Times on May 29, 1916.

“Memorial Day will be fittingly observed in Aspen tomorrow. The stores will be closed at 10 o’clock in the morning that all may attend the Memorial services at the court house at 10:30. This is as it should be as the American people cannot show too much veneration for the day- what it means. It is the greatest day of the year and is the day when all should reverently bow their heads out of respect for the men who gave up their lives that the blessings of a free government, a united country, might be our heritage. That not a star has been erased from the blue fields of Old Glory is due to the patriotism, the heroism of these brave men. Let us not forget!”