Veterans or not, we can all be patriots. The key is remembrance.
Bring your lawn chair to the park this Memorial Day for an opportunity to honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our American freedoms, as the Garner Veterans’ Memorial Committee Inc. and the Town of Garner host a special observance.
The event will take place at the site of the future Garner Veterans Memorial, at Lake Benson Park, on Monday, May 28 at 1:30 p.m.
“What our veterans put on the line, especially those that gave all, is a debt we can’t pay,” said Harold Annis, chair of the Garner Veterans Memorial Advisory Board. “We should, at the very least, recognize and honor them.”
This time of remembrance will include a reading of the names of fallen Garner soldiers, whose names will also be on the memorial when it is completed, and the laying of the wreath at the memorial site, in memory and in honor of all those who have lost their lives in service to our country.
Participating local organizations include Garner American Legion Post 232 and VFW Post 10225. Color guard for the memorial service will be members of the Garner Police Department, Garner Fire Department and Garner EMS.
State Rep. Deborah Ross, currently representing District 38 in the N.C. House of Representatives, will be the keynote speaker for the event.
The interactive and educational Garner Veterans Memorial is on target for completion by November 2012, in time for Veterans Day. It will honor all area veterans since the birth of America in 1776, and through future conflicts.
Brick sales are under way now for an accompanying Walkway of Honor at the site, honoring or memorializing friends or loved ones who have served, or are serving, in our nation’s military. For more information, visit www.garnerveteransmemorial.org.
In case of rain, Monday’s observance will be held at Lake Benson Park’s large picnic shelter.
Also, at the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, a wreath laying ceremony will be held on Monday at 10 a.m., sponsored by the Tar Heel Detachment of the Marine Corps League for the greater Raleigh area.
For more information on that event, contact Junior Vice Commandant Harry Schweitzer at 449-8799.
