The American Legion Post No. 6 hosted a Memorial Day ceremony at the Pioneer Cemetery on Monday. Officers of the Post guided attendees’ practice of remembrance and honor on this historic holiday.
“The duty of today is of impressive significance,” Commander Sheryl Loberger said.
“We meet to honor our dead and to deepen our reverence for their worth,” she added.
Following a series of opening remarks, the Post’s Finance Officer Doug Lund recited Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Doing so not only honored the war dead but also reminded listeners of the importance of unity as our nation pursues the preservation of the freedoms soldiers have died fighting for.
Loberger subsequently offered an opportunity for the exercise of such unity, inviting attendees to participate in a group prayer.
The Post officers then collectively performed a ritual depositing a wreath of red poppies, “a token of our enduring memory,” Loberger recognized.
Rob Liebenow, a Post Adjutant, concluded the memorial gathering with a traditional instrumental salute to the dead.
Although this year’s Memorial Day has passed, the practice of honoring fallen soldiers need not halt as well.
Courtesy of David Bogner, the Pioneer Cemetery will soon be stocked with a catalog delineating the locations of individuals’ sites of burial, inviting the public to more easily navigate these grounds of remembrance and honor.
