On a beautiful Monday morning, below a large American Flag flying high from the Mitchell Fire Departments ladder truck, military veterans, their families, friends and community members gathered to remember those who gave their lives throughout our history during Mitchell’s annual Memorial Day Service.
Army Reserve Command Sargent Major Jeff Bathke of Mitchell delivered the keynote address and spoke of the continuing threat the United States is facing. “The ‘big five’, which is Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and violent extremists,” said Bathke.
He said the military defends five areas: air, land, sea, space and cyber-space. “Around 2035, intelligence estimates that China will take over as our number one threat away from Russia,” Bathke warned.
He also reminded attendees the Chinese own Smithfield Foods, which has a major production facility in Sioux Falls. “So they can shut down our food supply if we allow them to continue to buy our food supply,” he noted. “In the art of war, the best way to win a war is to not fight at all, and that’s true. There are other ways to win a war besides combat.”
Bathke has spent more than 34 years in the military and is also Davison County Planning and Zoning and Emergency Management Director as well as a State Representative from District 20.