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3 days ago
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Soldiers' sacrifices remembered at Memorial Day observation
Lee County Sheriff Brian Estes says he often has to explain to people the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Estes was one of the speakers at Monday's Memorial Day ceremony in Broadway. The ceremony was moved inside to American Legion Post 347 because of rain, but that didn't dampen the crowd. More than 100 packed the Legion to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. 'Over the years, I've had to explain the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day to people,' Estes said. 'This is the easiest way I can think of to explain it — I want all of the veterans in the audience to stand up. I want to give them a round of applause. So on veterans day and every day, we can celebrate them for being here. On Memorial Day, we would celebrate the same people that just stood up if one thing would have changed in their lives. If they would have turned a different way or they would have driven a car in a different direction or if someone had taken a different shot, they wouldn't be here today. To me, that's the easiest way to explain it to people. The difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day is that we would have been celebrating with these heroes if one thing would have been different.' The ceremony began with the crowd reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before joining Cindy Buchanan in singing the National Anthem. Pastor Eddie Thomas of Juniper Spring Baptist Church then gave the invocation. After Estes spoke, Broadway Mayor Donald Andrews welcomed the crowd and shared a few thoughts, including welcoming the members of Trail Life USA, Troop NC-2717, and American Heritage Girls, Trop NC-1715, who would have presented the colors had the ceremony occurred outdoors. 'I saw them out there yesterday practicing, making sure everything was ready to go,' Andrews said. 'I hate that Mother Nature was a little uncooperative.' Andrews noted that for many, Memorial Day is a three-day weekend to kick off the summer, but for others, it's much more. 'It's a day set aside to remember veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice ensuring our freedom,' he said. Andrews said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. 'Vietnam veterans are special to me,' he said. 'As many of you know, my dad served in Vietnam. The Vietnam War divided our country. Nonetheless, the men and women who volunteered — or were drafted — carried out orders that our country asked of them. They did not come home to ticker tape parades or celebrations. It's only been in the last 20 years or so that we tried to correct that oversight.' Andrews said, of the more than 58,000 troops killed in Vietnam, 1,600 were from North Carolina and 14 from Lee County. He also shared a list of their names. 'These brave men and women we honor today, some whose names are listed on the memorial wall down the street, answered the call from their country and defended the freedoms and liberties that we are enjoying today. They come from farms, small towns and large cities. Their diversity spans all demographics. When asked to defend this nation, they stood strong in the face of tyranny. I would ask that if you gather later with family and friends, please take a moment to remember them and the 1,354,000 Americans who died defending this country. They made the ultimate sacrifice.' Charles Parks was the final speaker. He served in the Marine Corps. Parks gave a brief history of Memorial Day, which was known as Decoration Day. 'On May 26, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation that recognized the tradition of preserving the tradition of what had begun 100 years before,' Parks said. 'Most of you here today recognize the importance of this day to remember the sacrifices that have been made to keep our nation free.' Parks said he has concerns that as older veterans and citizens become complacent, young people do not realize the sacrifices that have been made. 'We are slowly losing factual history,' he said. 'I find that a lot of young people disrespect our flag and those who have served. We are not teaching them to love and respect our nation. They are not being taught that history — real history.' Parks then shared the story of a book that included the story of one of his wife's uncles, who was killed in World War II. 'My wife and her sisters, who were born after he was killed, knew nothing but a picture and a name until two years ago, when we found a book that had almost a total history of his life in the service. After his sister passed, we found this book — for uncle John Burleson.' The book contained information about his service as a medic. 'If they had not made the effort, we would not know anything about his service,' Parks said, noting that Burleson landed on Omaha Beach a month after D-Day and worked to take care of the wounded until he was killed in France. Parks concluded by telling the crowd that they need to pass down their stories to preserve the history for future generations. 'There is no reason not to have recorded history,' he said. 'We have multiple avenues to record your history.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Scranton on Memorial Day: Pausing to remember the fallen
SCRANTON — At Monday's Memorial Day service at Veterans Memorial Park, Master of Ceremonies Bill Stevens began his remarks reminding those attending of all the things Memorial Day is not. The holiday, he said, is not simply a chance to kick off the summer season with mattress sales, a cookout or the opening of your swimming pool. Instead, it serves as a day to remember the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who died in military service to their country. Its meaning he said, is steeped in honor and sacrifice. 'These people had an impact on the entire world.' he said. 'Remembering them is a small, but important, gesture.' * Military veterans cheer during a Memorial Day event Monday at Veterans Memorial Park, Scranton, (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) * Area residents salute the American flag at a Memorial Day service Monday at Veterans Memorial Park. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) * Boy Scout Rhys Otto, of Boy Scout Troop 16, leads the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance at a Memorial Day ceremony Monday. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) * Bill Stevens, Master of Ceremonies for Memorial Day services in Scranton Monday, addresses the crowd. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) * A crowd gathers at Veterans Memorial Park Monday to commemorate Memorial Day. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) * David Ratzel and Billy Ratzel, stand near a memorial wall at the city's Veterans Memorial Park Monday. The two are family members of Wesley Ratzel, who was shot down over North Vietnam in May of 1972. His remains weren't returned to his family until 1989. He was honored at the Memorial Day service, along with other veterans who lost their lives in service. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) * Military veterans salute the American flag at Memorial Day services at Veterans Memorial Park Monday. (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) Show Caption 1 of 7 Military veterans cheer during a Memorial Day event Monday at Veterans Memorial Park, Scranton, (GERI GIBBONS/STAFF PHOTO) Expand Remembering a local hero Capt. Wesley Ratzel, a graduate of the former Scranton Central High School is one of those men, Stevens said. Ratzel was a member of the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Da Nang, South Vietnam. On May 18, 1972, he was the pilot of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom II Fighter on a mission near Kep, Ha Bac Province, North Vietnam, when his plane was shot down. But, North Vietnam didn't let America know if he was alive or dead. For 17 years, his family believed he was a prisoner of war. Vietnam didn't return his remains until December 1988. It took another six months before U.S. military officials confirmed the remains were his and they were returned to his family. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Ratzel had always wanted to be an astronaut and to fly a plane. His military service as a pilot allowed him to fulfill part of that dream, Stevens said. His brother, David Ratzel, placed a memorial wreath at the monument reading — Those who gave their all. Forever remembered. — before addressing the crowd. He encouraged attendees to take time to thank veterans for their service to their country. Elizabeth Saylor, Wesley Ratzel's niece, remembers when her uncle went missing — she was in second grade. The family would not find out he had died until Saylor was about to get married. It was a great burden for all those years, she said. Saylor said the family found out only weeks ago her uncle would be honored. She credits Stevens with making it possible. Including the next generation Stew Thorp, assistant leader of Boy Scout Troop 16, brought scouts out to the event as a support to the community. One of the scouts raised the American flag. Another led the Pledge of Allegiance. The scouts took time to interact with veterans and members of the community, even handing out the event's programs. 'We always want to help,' Thorp said.
Yahoo
5 days ago
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- Yahoo
Memorial Day: Events around metro Atlanta remembering fallen heroes
There are a number of Memorial Day events planned for the metro Atlanta area today. Here is how you can pay tribute to those who have died serving our country. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] ALPHARETTA The City of Alpharetta and the Rotary Club of Alpharetta will host Alpharetta's Memorial Day Tribute. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. at Alpharetta City Hall. The program begins at 9 a.m. and will include an invocation, the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a keynote address by US Rep. Dr. Rich McCormick, followed by 'Taps.' CONYERS The Walk of Heroes Veterans War Memorial in Conyers, Georgia, hosts an annual Memorial Day ceremony. The ceremony is held on the actual Memorial Day, which is the last Monday of May. This year, the ceremony will take place on Monday, May 26th, starting at 11:00 AM. The memorial is located at 3001 Black Shoals Road in Conyers. The event is free and open to the public. DACULA The Dacula Memorial Day Parade will start at 10 a.m. This year's theme is 'They Answered the Call, They Paid the Price' and World World II Army veteran James L. Davis will be the grand marshal. The parade will stage at Hebron Baptist Church but officially start in front of Dacula High School. The route will continue on Second Ave., turn left on Wilson Street, turn left on Dacula Road and continue back to Hebron Baptist Church. DUNWOODY The City of Dunwoody will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Brook Run Park Veterans Memorial on N. Peachtree Road. U.S. Air Force Major Rick Scheff will serve as this year's keynote speaker. Scheff is a Dunwoody native and Georgia Tech graduate. He has recorded over 1,000 flight hours and over 300 combat hours missions across Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. He currently serves as Chief Evaluator Pilot at Shaw Air Force Base. LOGANVILLE The American Legion Riders of Loganville Post 233 will participate in their 27th annual Ride for America. The ride will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the American Legion Post in Loganville and travel to Madison. It's $10 per rider and $5 per passenger. The money raised will go toward the Cpl. Jonathan Ayers Memorial Scholarship, the American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund and local veterans. MARIETTA The Marietta Memorial Day Ceremony will take place at 12 p.m. at the Marietta National Cemetery. The ceremony is open to all veterans and the public. NEWNAN Newnan will hold its Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at Veterans Park. In case of rain, the ceremony will take place at McKoon Funeral Home. A free lunch will be provided to veterans after the ceremony. People who attend can also pay their respects to fallen military members at white crosses installed by the Newnan Rotary Club. ROSWELL The 26th annual Roswell Remembers Memorial Day Ceremony will take place at 11 am at Roswell City Hall. The event is rain or shine. The program will include displays and music provided by the Roswell New Horizons Band, a military ceremony, the presentation of colors, Honor Guard, the singing of the national anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, a POW/MIA tribute, and the solemn laying of the wreath. SENOIA Senoia will hold its Memorial Day ceremony at 9 a.m. at the cemetery on Stallings Road. Georgia State House Rep. David Jenkins will be the guest speaker with other remarks by Senoia Mayor Dub Pearman and U.S. Army veteran Holly Killebrew. East Coweta High School JROTC will serve as the color guard. If the weather permits, the Falcon RV Squadron, a local formation team, will be in attendance. STOCKBRIDGE The Memorial March of Stockbridge will take place at the Merle Manders Conference Center on Monday. The event starts at 9 a.m. but attendees can arrive at 7:30 a.m. This year's event will include a procession and a ceremony. Attendees are encouraged to dress comfortable for the walk.
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5 days ago
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On Reviving the Memorial Day Parade
Sherry Wyatt wanted a parade for Memorial Day. Growing up in rural Missouri, she remembers her aunts and uncles visiting from Kansas City for the holiday weekend. There was an uncle who served in Vietnam, and cousins who also served in the military. She remembered putting flowers on graves of family members, having a picnic with homemade ice cream, and then playing guitar, fiddle, and mandolin. When she moved to Columbia, Sherry wanted her two sons, Sterling and Chandler, to know what it means to be American, that our way of life does not happen by chance or by luck but by sacrifice. So, she took them to the Memorial Day airshow and parade. "It was true Americana," she told me by telephone. "They brought in vintage planes and gave rides. There was a big transport plane you could tour. Before the Blue Angels did their thing, the Golden Knights jumped out of planes and landed on Broadway Street downtown, right in between the stores." For 30 years, Memorial Day festivities in Columbia, county seat of Boone County and home of the University of Missouri, attracted thousands of visitors from across the state. The two-day airshow followed by a wreath-laying ceremony and veterans parade was the citys way to honor and remember those who fought for our country. It was the largest event of its kind in the state of Missouri and free to the public. Then, in 2019, everything stopped. "I didnt think much of it at first," Sherry said. "Covid came and went, but the parade didnt come back. By 2023, I thought, why doesnt someone do something? We should memorialize our fallen. When I woke up on Memorial Day last year, I told my husband I would restart the parade." Columbia is the fourth most populous city in Missouri, after Kansas City, St. Louis, and Springfield. Surrounded by farmland, the city proper is compact, modern, and youthful. Dozens of coffee shops and restaurants thrive in the downtown, which practically blends into the universitys campus and makes touring by foot the best way to experience the community. If you walk a half-mile from the edge of Mizzous campus through downtown, youll find the Specialist Sterling William Wyatt Post Office Building. From there, hop on one of Columbias many jogging trails and wend your way a few miles to the edge of a neighborhood at the top of a hill, where a grass-roots campaign resulted in the dedication of Sterling W. Wyatt Memorial Park in 2013. Sterlings parents - Sherry and his father, Randy - live just down the street, in the same house where they raised Sterling and Chandler. Like many of her generation, Sherry grew up in the country before moving to the city to pursue a career. She always considered herself patriotic - she recited the Pledge of Allegiance in school, respected the flag, and walked in parades. "But everything changes when you get the visitors to your door," she said. In 2012, thats how Sherry and her husband learned their firstborn son had been killed seven months into his first deployment to Afghanistan. An IED detonated under his vehicle. At the time, Sterling, age 21, was serving as an infantryman assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. "The day I take my last breath is the last day Ill dream about him. Every holiday, every birthday, every family celebration, theres a loss. You cannot survive hurting like you did at first, so you make choices. Bitter and angry. Drugs or drinking. Or will I live a life worthy of my childs sacrifice?" She settled on the last option. Sherry established a nonprofit organization and recruited board members, sponsors, and volunteers from the same community that rallied around her after Sterlings death. Though there wont be an airshow this year, the first "Gold Star Memorial Day Parade" has been a labor of love. When the parade begins at 10:00 a.m. in downtown Columbia, visitors will see vintage cars and hotrods, marching bands, even the universitys prized "Missouri Mules" spiffed up in ceremonial hitch. Of Boone Countys eight Gold Star families from the post-9/11 wars, six will be grand marshals leading the parade. In reviving the Memorial Day parade, Sherry hopes to share some of her affection for Columbia with a new generation, and to thank the community for helping her family survive the unthinkable. For her, Memorial Day isnt just a three-day holiday but an occasion to be grateful for neighbors and country, to look on with awe and admiration at generations of young Americans who gave their lives, families, and futures for an ideal. "Our son died serving his country in the place where our country said he needed to be, and he did it to the best of his ability," Sherry said. "I think my son died for the ideal of America." John J. Waters is author of the postwar novel 'River City One.' Follow him at @JohnJWaters1 on X.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Westfield Middle School continues 56-year Memorial Day Assembly tradition
WESTFIELD — For 56 years, the Westfield Middle School has observed Memorial Day with an assembly inviting area veterans to be recognized for their service, and this year's assembly on May 20 was part of the grand tradition. Local veterans, many from American Legion Post 124 in Westfield and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 872 in Southwick gathered in the library, where they were teamed up with students to be escorted into the auditorium. Among the dozen or more veterans who attended was Steve White, American Legion Post 124 adjutant and bugler, who was escorted by his eighth-grade grandson Nicholas Battaglia, a member of the band who also played the taps echo during the assembly. Cindy Lacoste, a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer, who works at Mestek, told her student escort that each stripe on the arm of her jacket represents four years of service. She has 22 years of service to the U.S. Navy. Troy Henke, district commander of VFW Post 872, who was accompanied by his daughter Katherine, 2, was joined by Sterling Elmer, vice commander of Post 872, Curtis Elmer, Matt Egerton and Mark Goodniss. Organizers for the event were Patrick Dufraine, a STEM teacher, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and keynote speaker, librarian Sarah Scott and Assistant Principal Jennifer Leveille, who all welcomed the veterans. Dufraine was also keynote speaker in the assembly. The veterans entered the auditorium behind the student color guard, and were shown to their front row seats as the eighth grade band, conducted by Ryan Emken, played a patriotic selection. The seventh and eighth grade chorus, directed by David Gomes, sang the National Anthem for the veterans following the Pledge of Allegiance. Masters of Ceremony Max Gallagher and Madison Hess welcomed the veterans to the assembly. Madison called it a 56-year tradition at the school, and said the school was proud of having Parker Memorial Park, which recognizes fallen soldiers from every war, across the street. 'We are here today to honor those who have given the supreme gift of their lives so we can be free,' she said. 'This is one of the best days in my school year,' Dufraine said, adding that he still has memories as a student at Abner Gibbs and in South Middle School. He said, 'Sitting in those seats, I had a sense of Memorial Day.' Dufraine told a moving story from his days in the service. He said In April 2013, already a teacher, he was called up with very short notice. He said in three weeks he went from being a tech teacher to a lt. colonel in the Air Force. He said normally, WiFi was a wonderful real-time connection for the soldiers back home to the people they loved. But, during one attack on the base, on June 21 that year, a large explosion hit nearby the base, followed by more. After the last explosion, Dufraine said he got off the floor of his tent, donned his vest and helmet and ran to the Emergency Operations Center, where he led the Air Force side. He checked the points of origin and impact, and realized the bomb hit on a road he had driven about an hour before. The four U.S. Army personnel who were wounded were transported to the hospital by the Security Police, not a good sign, Dufraine said. Two passed away on the road, and two were brought in for immediate surgery, but could not be saved. 'I could tell that news had made an impact on those present; the fact that four members of our base had succumbed so suddenly hung heavy in the room,' Dufraine said. A major from Public Affairs recommended to Dufraine that he take the WiFi down until the families could be notified by an in-person visit from an official notification team, usually an officer, chaplain and another member. 'We didn't want word getting to these families through online posts, given how fast word spreads,' he said. Dufraine said it took longer than expected, and he was asked repeatedly why the WiFi was down for so long, which he brushed off to technology not always working, even under the best of circumstances. He said he attended the fallen soldiers ramp ceremony as they began the long trip home. 'It was the saddest I felt during my time in Afghanistan,' he said. Now, every morning, when he puts the Stars and Stripes up on the flagpole in the front of the school, he pauses for a period before saluting it, thinks about those four soldiers and thanks them and others that he knew for their service and the ultimate sacrifice they made. Dufraine said those who didn't come home should be remembered. He asked the students during their day off on Memorial Day to pause at 3 p.m. and think of all those who gave their lives serving this country. Leveillee then asked the veterans in attendance who were in the front row to stand and be recognized as she read their names. Afterwards, the veterans were invited for refreshments in the library conference room, where they took a group photo with their student escorts. Read the original article on MassLive.
