Memorial Day has become a commercialized holiday focused on a day off from work, cookouts and a day to kick off the unofficial start to summer.
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Throughout McHenry County, others celebrated the lives and sacrifices of those who died while serving their country. “It’s a day like this that’s very important”, said WWII veteran Lou Dow.
It’s also a day to pass on the meaning of Memorial Day to younger generations.
The National Memorial Day Parade is a moving timeline of American military history, honoring those who have served and sacrificed from the American Revolution to the present day. Memorial Day is a time where many people return the sacrifice and offering veterans make on a daily basis by volunteering in their communities. Many cemeteries hold special Memorial Day services and there are often Memorial Day parades that take place in cities and towns. The Zanesville High School band will play. Services will be at 11:15 a.m.at Mount Sterling, 11:30 a.m.at Hopwell, 11:45 a.m.at Brownsville, noon at Poplar Forks, 12:30 p.m.at Mount Olive and 12:45 p.m.at Beulah. Parade at 1 p.m. Sunday.
John Mickelson led the ceremony and encouraged visitors to walk around the cemetery and keep their eyes out for coins left on the graves of veterans. Christine, a retired nurse who is also a veteran, served during Operation Desert Storm, training reservists for stints in a naval hospital in Long Beach, California.
For veterans not buried in a VA national cemetery, VA provides headstones, markers or medallions to commemorate their service.
-Linn County will dedicate a Purple Heart memorial at 10:00 am at the All Veterans Memorial Park, next to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
The 89th annual Veterans of Foreign wars Memorial Day processions leaves from their headquarters at 245 West Main Street at 9:15 a.m. and members of the public can follow in their own vehicles.
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At Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Fairbanks, more than 100 people gathered for a service that included speeches, presentation of wreaths and a 21-gun salute.
