2007 Wicomico County Memorial Day ceremony

I’m going to do this a bit differently – pictures first and text at the end. Enjoy – and remember.

As I arrived at the site, it was apparent a good crowd was on hand.

It's always a treat to see the Red Knights parked at a memorial ceremony.

It was gratifying to see pretty good attendance, but more can be present.

Tony Sarbanes served as master of ceremonies. He's a member of the Wicomico War Veterans Memorial Committee and a former county councilman.

I wasn't the only one capturing the moment.

It was nice to see the two local TV stations on hand. Too bad they'll only devote a minute or two to the ceremony.

The colors are lowered to half-staff. Custom dictates that on Memorial Day the flag be at half-staff until noon.

Ed Tattersall read the list of 187 names that represent Wicomico County's war toll since World War I.

For each conflict, the bell was rung signifying a new list of names.

There's just something about a bagpiper playing 'Amazing Grace'. Matthew Wallace is the musician pictured here.

These three men served for the Volley of Arms portion of the tribute. They represent American Legion Post 64 and Veterans of Foreign Wars 194.

It's also so moving to hear 'Taps'. There were two players, pictured here is Randolph Dashields.

The other player, more in the background, was Jim Collins.

I remembered this bike from the 'Beast of the East' motorcycle show. It's just a cool bike that deserved a picture in my post.

The reason we do this. Little did the Lathams know last year at this time that they'd have a family member so honored this time around.

The community gathered together today to honor those who gave their lives to help us maintain the freedom and prosperity we have in America.

While this is only the second ceremony I’ve been to here, something tells me that they’ve all been pretty much the same…a few words in tribute to those who passed, an introduction of dignitaries that were present, lowering of colors, the reading of the names of the fallen, a volley of arms, ‘Amazing Grace’, and “Taps.”

It is good to see that a few hundred people made the time out of the holiday to appear. And I noticed that the political figures that were present didn’t do it as an opportunity to be seen – they were recognized but that was it. I’ll take a moment to recognize them as well. Norm Conway from the House of Delegates was present, as were County Council members John Cannon, Bill McCain, Gail Bartkovich, Sheree Sample-Hughes, and David MacLeod. We also had people representing Delmar, Sharptown, and Lee Whaley representing Senator Cardin’s office.

I suppose the thing that bugs me the most about the way the ceremony comes off is that they do it at the same time a wrestling tournament is underway in the Civic Center. While it’s good that the Civic Center gets the revenue, is it really necessary to have the tournament on a holiday weekend of this sort?

It’s also sad that we continue to add to the roster of the names as the Long War continues on. To me it’s interesting that, while the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan has slogged on for the last four-plus years, the number of people from Wicomico County who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom is just four. By my count, 109 from our county were taken in World War II, which lasted almost as long as far as our country’s participation.

It was with the help of all of those named today that we get to enjoy this holiday and even the wrestling tournament that coincides with it. After I finish this post, I’ll go out and light up my barbecue so I can enjoy my day off. I wrote this as my own tribute to those who served since I was fortunate enough to live in an era where I didn’t have to and I chose not to. However those who did and still do deserve our gratitude, today and every day.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.