Acknowledge their sacrifices
Published on Sun, Jan 3, 2010 by Lorri GilchristRead More Gilchrist
• May 26 is Memorial Day. The observance began in 1868 to honor the Civil War dead. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday. It is in honor of the nation’s armed services personnel killed in wartime. The American Legion will be putting flags on all graves identified as veterans on May 25. If your veteran does not have any identification on the gravestone, please come to the cemetery on May 25 to identify the grave — call the American Legion, 683-5915, for times. On May 26, services will be held at Sequim View Cemetery at 11 a.m., Jamestown Cemetery at 11:30 a.m., Dungeness Cemetery at noon and Blue Mountain Cemetery at 12:45 p.m.
The service at Sequim View will be led by Chaplain Dale Butler of the VFW. First Vice Commander Bob Robinson will lead the other services on behalf of the American Legion. Boy Scout Alex Bullock will be playing “Taps” at the three American Legion services.
Please come out to honor our deceased veterans and let their families know you appreciate the sacrifice of their loved one.
Flags will be retrieved from the graves late Monday afternoon.
• Chaplain Butler has a display of the 95 Washington state residents who have lost their lives in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Please go by and acknowledge our county’s military personnel who have given their lives for our freedom.
• The NJROTC will be conducting its awards ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Port Angeles High School gym. Please come and acknowledge all the hard work these young people put in during the school year. MOAA and the DAR will be there to present leadership medals and certificates.
• I addressed this back in October, but we still need more volunteers to do this job. The Red Cross needs volunteers to help with the Armed Forces Emergency Services — AFES. This involves verifying information about a death, birth or serious illness of a serviceman’s family member so the Red Cross can send a message on behalf of the family to members of the U.S. armed services serving anywhere in the world, including ships at sea. The information or verification in a message assists the service member’s commanding officer with making a decision regarding emergency leave. It takes about an hour of training to learn the system. You can volunteer for a week whenever it is convenient for you. You do not have to go to the Red Cross office — you can have a pager or use your cell or home phone to answer and assist in these calls. If you are interested in helping the families of servicemen let their loved ones know what is happening here at home, please call the Red Cross at 457-7933 and ask for Jo Ann.
• Better late than never — May 9 was Military Spouse Appreciation Day. In 1984, then President Reagan proclaimed each Friday before Mother’s Day to be Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Please don’t forget that spouses are left behind to deal with daily life when the service member is deployed. Thank them for their support and maybe even offer a helping hand!
Contributors: DAR Regent Bonnie McGill, bmcgill@olypen.com; American Legion Post Commander Lorri Gilchrist, lpgilchrist@webtv.net; VFW Commander Roger Patie, commander@
vfwpost4760.com; MOAA President Jim McEntire,
jmcentire1@wavecable.com, Marine Corps League, Jake Fish, jafish76@msn.com.
The service at Sequim View will be led by Chaplain Dale Butler of the VFW. First Vice Commander Bob Robinson will lead the other services on behalf of the American Legion. Boy Scout Alex Bullock will be playing “Taps” at the three American Legion services.
Please come out to honor our deceased veterans and let their families know you appreciate the sacrifice of their loved one.
Flags will be retrieved from the graves late Monday afternoon.
• Chaplain Butler has a display of the 95 Washington state residents who have lost their lives in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Please go by and acknowledge our county’s military personnel who have given their lives for our freedom.
• The NJROTC will be conducting its awards ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Port Angeles High School gym. Please come and acknowledge all the hard work these young people put in during the school year. MOAA and the DAR will be there to present leadership medals and certificates.
• I addressed this back in October, but we still need more volunteers to do this job. The Red Cross needs volunteers to help with the Armed Forces Emergency Services — AFES. This involves verifying information about a death, birth or serious illness of a serviceman’s family member so the Red Cross can send a message on behalf of the family to members of the U.S. armed services serving anywhere in the world, including ships at sea. The information or verification in a message assists the service member’s commanding officer with making a decision regarding emergency leave. It takes about an hour of training to learn the system. You can volunteer for a week whenever it is convenient for you. You do not have to go to the Red Cross office — you can have a pager or use your cell or home phone to answer and assist in these calls. If you are interested in helping the families of servicemen let their loved ones know what is happening here at home, please call the Red Cross at 457-7933 and ask for Jo Ann.
• Better late than never — May 9 was Military Spouse Appreciation Day. In 1984, then President Reagan proclaimed each Friday before Mother’s Day to be Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Please don’t forget that spouses are left behind to deal with daily life when the service member is deployed. Thank them for their support and maybe even offer a helping hand!
Contributors: DAR Regent Bonnie McGill, bmcgill@olypen.com; American Legion Post Commander Lorri Gilchrist, lpgilchrist@webtv.net; VFW Commander Roger Patie, commander@
vfwpost4760.com; MOAA President Jim McEntire,
jmcentire1@wavecable.com, Marine Corps League, Jake Fish, jafish76@msn.com.
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