The Exeter American Legion and Sons of the American Legion members form the
color guard at the Memorial Day program in Exeter.
Exeter
honored those who have fallen in service to their country with a Memorial Day
Program at the Exeter Cemetery on Monday morning.
After
the flag ceremony Legion Commander Alan Songster welcomed the audience and
reminded them of their purpose there, “to honor those we remember.”
The
Exeter-Milligan band played “The Star Spangled Banner” before Pastor Kim Dunker
led the invocation.
Patrick
Murphy read “The Gettysburg Address” before the band performed a “Salute to
Freedom” which included “America the Beautiful,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and
“America.”
Kelsey
Bigelow read “In Flander’s Field” before the band played “God Bless America.”
Songster
introduced Tim Wilbeck the speaker for the service. Wilbeck noted that
this year America is honoring the 150th Memorial Day formerly known
as Decoration Day.
“Any
American would feel honored to speak about America’s sons and daughters. . .to
pay special tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and to those who
returned home and since passed on,” explained Wilbeck, “Sacrifice is
meaningless without remembrance.”
Wilbeck
shared the story of the heroics of aviator Frank Luke during World War I.
Pursued by eight enemy planes, Luke shot down three enemy ammunition balloons
before he was shot down in France. After crashing, he pulled his
automatic pistol and defended to the death. He was the first pilot to
receive the medal of honor.
He
also shared the story of very quiet heroism, that of Vietnam nurse Sharon Lane,
a 26 year old volunteer from Ohio. “She received no medals or fame… she
wrote in a letter home that hardly anyone is sacred. It’s just part of
the job.”
An
enemy rocket took her life and that of a 12 year old Vietnamese girl.
Lane was the only female nurse killed by enemy fire in Vietnam.
Wilbeck
noted that these and so many others were “wedded to the principle that America
is worth dying for.”
He
closed with the story of four young Marines who recently lost their lives in
California. Some had already done foreign tours and never expected to lose
their life in a training exercise.
Wilbeck
reminded the crowd that “we need to give our gratitude and support to a group
no one wants to join – the Gold Star family. Let us not stop with this
ceremony. . .visit those family members, look them in the eye and thank them.”
The
Legion and Sons of the Legion honored those lost with a 21 gun salute.
“Taps” was played by Trever Zelenka while Mitchell Manning played “Taps Echo.”
The
audience was invited to the Legion for rolls and coffee.
Mark Crawford posts the colors at the Memorial Day Program in Exeter.
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