Kudos for Memorial Day Program

A heap of thanks to Campbell Richmond Post 63 and the Clarkston High School marching band for a remarkable Memorial Day program at Lakeview Cemetery in Clarkston. While I have not been a regular attender to this parade and program, it was a moving experience. Several hundred people came out to hear the names of 800 veterans buried at the cemetery read by Post 63, as well as the Star Spangled Banner and Taps played by the high school band.

The parade to the cemetery included the American Legion drum and bugle corp leading a couple of restored WWII vehicles with veterans followed by the high school marching band with citizens folowing behind marching to Lakeview Cemetery, located on a rise between Deer Lake and Middle Lake, sometimes called Cemetery Lake. It was an especially pretty day and standing on the knoll between the two lakes, the cemetery was a very restful spot. In the crowd were grandparents, parents, and grandchildren as well as others paying their respects. Some people rode their bikes while others walked the 1/2 mile from town.

The Clarkston community opened Lakeview cemetery in 1850 and there is still space for burials today.

Unlike other Clarkston parades on the 4th of July or Labor Day, there was a smaller crowd of probably 500 or so in attendance. But this was not a parade to entertain, this was a program to remember.

All those standing or sitting under the pine and hardwood trees learned about the significance of Memorial Day from the history of the day shared by Barney Schoenfeld, Post 63 Commander to the reading of the Gettysburg Address by retired Calvary Lutheran minister Dr. Robert Walters with a little history of the battle in which 51,000 American men lost their lives.

Some of the older crowd remember the name of Decoration Day being associated with the what is called Memorial Day. Decoration Day was declared after the Civil War in 1868 and the day was renamed Memorial Day in 1971 under President Lyndon Johnson.

Two Warthog planes flew over the cemetery during the program which ended with a wreath laying and rifle volley followed by taps.

As many of the crowd listened to the 800 names being read of the veterans buried in the cemetery, there were names we were familiar with, family members, friends and other relatives who served their country in wars dating back to possible veterans of the Mexican American War, Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI and WWI, Korean War, Vietnam War, the First Gulf War, Iraq War and the Afghanistan War. It was mentioned that many veterans from the community were being buried at the National Cemetery in Holly as well as soldiers who lost their lives and were buried in the American cemeteries in Europe or Arlington Naitonal Cemetery.

A fitting rembrerance for veterans and the country was given by the community of Clarkston. If you haven't attended before, put it on the agenda for next Memorial Day.