Memorial Day service features patriotic performances, honors local servicemen
By MEDHA SARIN:
Sun City’s Memorial Day ceremony took place Monday in the Sun City Ballroom, right next to the Veterans Memorial Plaza.
Though the event was moved indoors due to weather concerns, the sun shined brightly as over 750 people filed into the ballroom, filling up the seats and crowding around the back walls. A flyover was rescheduled for 10:40 a.m., 10 minutes after the ceremony ended.
The memorial service opened with music from the 36th Infantry Division Band, a musical unit in the Texas Army National Guard that performs for patriotic holidays and ceremonies.
Diane Klutz, a former army nurse who worked in Vietnam, emceed the event. The medical veteran, who serves as chair of the Veterans Memorial Advisory Group, implored the audience to reflect on the country’s past wars, present patriotic efforts and the future that younger generations will inherit.
“Understand that our nation’s existence depends upon our future, our youth,” Ms. Klutz said in her speech. “One day — hopefully not — one of these young people may pay the ultimate sacrifice. So, we treasure them.”
Addressing a crowd dressed in red, white and blue, Mrs. Klutz said that Americans have continued to celebrate veterans since Memorial Day’s official inception a few years after the Civil War.
“Setting aside political differences, we affirm our remembrance, and we promise that generations to come will honor those who sacrifice their lives for our freedom,” Ms. Klutz said. “Remembering that the price of our liberty is not measured in money. It’s not measured in time, nor material things, but rather, in lives given.”
Ms. Klutz invited retired U.S. Air Force Major General Stephen McElroy to share updates about the community’s Veterans Memorial Plaza, which is currently undergoing renovations. Mr. McElroy said a grand opening of the plaza, initially scheduled for today, has been delayed a few weeks due to weather concerns and supply chain issues.
Mr. McElroy described how the memorial’s founding group planted Italian cypress trees as a backdrop to the plaza, symbolizing “soldiers standing guard over the memorial.” He noted a decline in tree health in recent years, prompting a “comprehensive refurbishment effort” designed last year. The effort includes a newly constructed pergola, as well as the installation of 8,000 bricks – with 2,000 more still to be added – etched with veterans’ names throughout the plaza.
He also described plans to add an educational section in the plaza’s “reflection garden.”
“Our aim was to create a more welcoming and functional environment in the memorial space,” Mr. McElroy said. “It’s going to be designed to teach future generations about the importance and meaning of sacrifice, memorialized in this special place.”
Catherine Seislick, a member of the Frontier Girls Troop 700, led the crowd in the pledge of allegiance.
Chaplain and Vietnam War veteran Michael Meccia gave the invocation. Mr. Meccia served as a member of Richard Nixon’s Presidential Honor Guard in 1969 and was aboard the ship that received Apollo 11 astronauts when they returned to Earth from the moon. He recognized the small number of World War Two and Korean War veterans in the audience.
“I thank you so much for being here and for being such a part of keeping our country safe,” Mr. Meccia said.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Bill Floyd of the United States Army Reserve then performed the song “Angel Flight,” written by Texas singer-songwriter Darden Smith and inspired by a conversation he had with a Texas National Guard member. The song honors pilots who fly the remains of fallen service members back home.
Introduced by retired Major General Robert Halverson, Major General Patrick Hamilton took his place as the keynote speaker. Mr. Hamilton served over three decades in the Texas Army National Guard and has worked in nine Middle Eastern countries. He led the state National Guard response, which included evacuation, rescue and sheltering efforts, during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Mr. Hamilton currently is a board member of the Central Texas YMCA, which will have its groundbreaking this week.
Mr. Hamilton focused his speech on the stories of three “hometown heroes” – Lieutenant Charles Woody McCook and Norman Congressional Medal of Honor Winner Eli L. Whiteman, both of Georgetown, as well as Captain Henry Waskow of Belton. Mr. Hamilton said what all servicepeople have in common is the oath they swear to the Constitution.
“It’s not an oath to a flag, or to a president, or to any person,” Mr. Hamilton said. “It’s an oath to the Constitution of the United States of America, that single document that incurs all of our freedoms, the thing that makes us different than any country in the world, the thing that we fight for. For our families to be free, to worship in freedom, to not be judged by the color of our skin or our religion or anything else, but by our character, and to not succeed or fail except for our level of competence and individual effort.”
Mr. Hamilton called on the crowd to make sure future generations understand the sacrifices of those who came before them.
“Our challenge is we’ve not been invaded. Our kids don't know what that’s like,” Mr. Hamilton said. “I pray to God we never get invaded, but please tell your children and your grandchildren and your great grandchildren the sacrifices that our citizens made for them, so that they can have the wonderful things and the freedoms that we have.”
Boy Scout Troop member Cameron Taylor then recited “Flanders Field,” a famous World War I poem in which a soldier buries his friend in a sea of red poppies.
Additionally, Ms. Klutz recognized Gold Star families, people whose family members died while in service.
“We can never truly feel your grief for the immeasurable sacrifice you have made, and what we say is woefully inadequate,” Ms. Klutz said. “However, we do extend our heartfelt gratitude to you.”
The memorial service ended in a moment of silence, a gun salute from the Georgetown Police Department’s Rifle Honor Guard, the 36th Infantry Division Band’s rendition of Taps, and a performance of “Amazing Grace” from the Georgetown Fire Department Pipes & Drums. Afterward, the crowd headed outside to explore the memorial plaza, watch the flyover, search for names of family members and friends written on the bricks, and reflect on Memorial Day together.
Barbara Picone was among the Gold Star families recognized during the ceremony. Her cousin, Thomas Murphy, was a U.S. Navy pilot who died at 21 during World War II.
“He lived with us, so he was like a brother,” Ms. Picone said. “He was a lot older, but he was just the nicest guy.”
Mike Harner, 79, is a U.S. Navy veteran who completed West Pacific deployment tours from 1963 to 1967. He would travel to Australia to support celebrations of independence from Britain.
“We provided reconnaissance off the coast of Vietnam doing our tour, so it was a big deal,” Mr. Harner said. “It was a lot of fun. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Mr. Harner said the memorial service brought back memories for him, and honed the importance of honoring veterans who have lost their lives defending the country.
“It really touches home as to what Memorial Day is about and why we do it every year, so that we don't lose sight of all the people that did their sacrifice so that we could stand here today,” Mr. Harner said.
As a Sun City resident, he encouraged people who weren’t familiar with the Veterans Memorial Plaza to pay a visit.
“It’s not just for Sun City, it’s for the whole of Georgetown and the surrounding area,” Mr. Harner said. “If you haven’t been here, you should come, just sit down and reflect, and enjoy why it’s here.”