The honor guard of Drew Webster Post 39, American Legion, stand at attention during the Memorial Day Parade.
Vietnam Veteran Ed Mohler spoke on the significance of Memorial Day and called for his listeners to remember and honor those who have served their country.
Navy veterans Frank Ryther, left, and Bill King place a wreath on the Ohio River in memory of those lost at sea.
POMEROY — “See the American flag on that grave — there lies a soldier, a soldier that by performing his duty and possibly sacrificing his life, has helped to secure freedom for future generations. Do not disrespect him by forgetting the true meaning of Memorial Day.”
That was a closing remark by Ed Mohler, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, speaker at the annual Memorial Day observance held on the Pomeroy parking lot by Drew Webster Post 39, American Legion.
“It is never over,” said Mohler. “Missions may end but the legacies left and the pain of their absence endure.”
He spoke of the 4,500 men and women lost during Operations Iraqi Freedom, of the the Americans being lost every day in Afghanistan now, and added that from the American Revolution to the current global war on terrorism, one million American men and women have made the supreme sacrifice.
“They died so that we could continue to cherish the things they loved — God, country and family,” he said, then added that scripture tells us “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Mohler spoke of the reasons why men and women to this day are willing to fight, and if necessary die, for the sake of freedom. They do it to preserve the American way of life by providing a strong national defense, they do it for America’s core values of God and country, and they do it for their families, he said.
His closing remark was a call for remembering the true meaning of Memorial Day, and never forgetting the sacrifices made by our military men and women because they were the ones who have made our way of life possible.
Joe Struble emceed the program and Maddie Shope sang the National Anthem played by the Southern High School Band.
Holding to tradition, a wreath in memory of those who died at sea was placed in the Ohio River by Navy Veterans Frank Ryther and Bill King. The Drew Webster Post gave a gun salute and a member of the Southern band played taps. Pastor Dennis Moore of the Common Grounds Mission gave both the invocation and the benediction.
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