CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Remembering our veterans

Richmond Register - 5/27/2021

May 27—As somber grey clouds rolled across the sky, those in the Madison County Memorial Gardens contemplated what it meant for the veterans in the cemetery to have been willing to give their life for their country.

The Madison County Veterans Committee brought a van filled with flags and a reflective attitude to the Madison County Memorial Gardens on Wednesday.

For each gravesite which was marked as a veteran's, there was a flag placed beside them.

"Any veteran that has ever served deserves to be recognized," Craig Pyles, Commandant of the local Marine Corps League detachment, said.

The Committee has been putting flags on veteran's graves near Memorial Day for years now.

Pyles explained the Memorial Gardens cemetery makes finding veteran's gravesites a bit easier because their veteran's graves have markers provided by the Veteran's Administration. At Richmond's Cemetery, which the Committee put flags out at 5 p.m. on May 24, finding the graves is a bit more complicated. But, the Committee still sees that it is done.

Judith Weckman, the director of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment and friend to Pyles, helped to put flags out on veteran's graves on Wednesday. Weckman's father and all of her uncles served in World War II, and two gave their lives while fighting.

"I think it's always important that we remember, what our ancestors, our kin, our friends have gone through," Weckman said. "We learn through remembering."

"The whole thing for Memorial Day is in remembrance for the veterans who have passed and gone one, or were killed in action or in the war," Mike Boyd, chairman, said. He explained the group puts flags on graves from WW1, WW2, the Korean War, and more.

Boyd said they usually place a ballpark number of 2,000 flags between the different cemeteries.

"I knew I would be coming, rain or shine," Neil Clemek said while looking up at the sky. He has been coming with Pyles for a few years to help place flags for the Madison County Veterans Committee.

"These are all people who were willing to give their lives for the country," Clemek said. "... I think that requires respect and celebration."

The celebration for Madison County's veterans does not end on Wednesday, however. The Madison County Veterans Committee will be hosting a Memorial Day service at the Richmond Cemetery at 10 a.m. and Memorial Gardens at 1 p.m. on May 31.

___

(c)2021 the Richmond Register (Richmond, Ky.)

Visit the Richmond Register (Richmond, Ky.) at richmondregister.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.