By Randy Arrington
LURAY, May 31 — Community members gathered with veterans and their families at the Page County War Memorial on Monday morning to remember “those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”
“May we never forget the sacrifices that these young men and women have made for us,” Commander Luke Bedortha, Luray VFW Post 621, told the crowd gathered along South Court Street.
Both the VFW and Luray American Legion Post 22 combined forces to host a Memorial Day ceremony in front of the Page County Courthouse. Commander Bedortha opened the ceremony by welcoming everyone prior to the presentation of colors. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, local pastor Doug Gochenour sang the National Anthem.
Following the laying of a wreath in front of the war memorial containing more than 80 names of fallen soldiers from Page County, a tribute was given to the members lost in 2020 from each organization:
American Legion Post 22
Virgil Bolen
Boyd Wendell Green
Samuel Good
Charles Andrews
Comer-Jones VFW Post 621
Boyd Wendell Green
Glendon O. “Junior” Grandstaff
Richard Alvin Burke
Byron “Barney” Anderson
Edward “Pap” Sedwick
Max Shaffer Foltz
Jerry Wayne Baker
Past VFW Commander Butch Fleharty provided a history on the folding of the American flag, with a special emphasis and meaning given to each fold as a detail carried out the process before the crowd. Fleharty also told the history of taps — a bugle call or “signal” (not a song) that has no official words.
Yet, as its notes sounded to close out the short ceremony — as they always do — they resonated through the patriotic crowd and drew tears from more than one.
On the back of the day’s program, the VFW and the Legion summed up the meaning of the day:
Memorial Day has come to mean the beginning of summer, a time for picnics and barbecues, and a holiday to gather around the family. That happiness and freedom, however, is a product of the real cause for the holiday: the sacrifice made by men and women who have fought and died for the freedoms and liberties Americans hold dear. Memorial Day is a time to remember that the American way of life is not cheap, but rather has been purchased by the lives and blood of so many who have sacrificed for us to have the freedom we enjoy today.
Remember Them
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