27-05-2025
Memorial Day celebrations both grand and quiet
EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) — On this Memorial Day, families and communities across the nation are coming together, not just to remember, but to feel the presence of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. From Civil War-era music, to simple tokens of thanks on graves, veterans are being honored both grand and quiet.
Band students from Edmond Memorial High School performed at the Edmond History Museum.
Morgan is not only the Edmond Memorial Band Director; he is also the son of News 4 Chief Meteorologist Mike Morgan.
'It's the only high school historical brass program that I know of in the country,' said Tanner Morgan, the Edmond Memorial Band Director.
It's not just music, but the soundtrack to a different America during the Civil War.
'In fact, it's from a book that he would have been calling his Marine band to perform on in the days right before he was assassinated,' said Morgan.
Not only were the songs from the past, but so were the instruments.
'They're artifacts,' said Morgan. 'There's no reproduction instruments. They're all period instruments. The youngest instrument is 100 years old this year.'
'I think that [the students] make them sound great. They're not easy to play on,' said Morgan.
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Just two miles up the road, at Gracelawn Cemetery, a different kind of tribute is unfolding.
Volunteers with the Travis Manion Foundation laid tokens of thanks on gravestones and markers.
It's a non-profit close to the heart of Aaron Hudgins, an army veteran, especially on Memorial Day.
'I lost my wife on April 29, 2018, while in service to our country and after that I was lost. And so I needed a new tribe,' said Hudgins. 'It has changed my life completely.'
Hudgins said about 2,000 veterans are buried at the cemetery. For that amount, they needed about two dozen volunteers.
'My wife, a friend of mine, and my daughter we came out and participated with the Travis Manning Foundation,' said Jonathan Reid, a volunteer.
Reid is a Marine Corps veteran and a purple heart recipient. He chose not to speak of his own service, but instead chose to speak for the fallen.
'We took our time. Looked at the names, the dates, branches of service,' said Reid.
Reid said you don't have to visit a cemetery or play in a band to honor those who gave their lives so we could live ours.
'It's enjoying the time with their families. And they didn't get that,' said Reid.
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