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FAIRFIELD – Fairfield residents paid homage Monday morning to those who lost their lives serving in the U.S. military.

Per custom, the Memorial Day ceremony in Central Park featured hundreds of American flags on both sides of every sidewalk in the park, donated by the families of service members. The Tarnished Brass Band performed, and the National Anthem was sung by Lydia Bonebrake. Elliott Ward read the Gettysburg Address and Logan’s General Orders, and Rev. Nathaniel Adkins of First Lutheran Church gave the benediction.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Larry Hill of Post 2271 in Fairfield introduced the guest speaker, Second Lt. Alex Rebling. In addition to his job as the associate principal at Fairfield Middle School and previous career as a teacher for Fairfield, Pekin and Cedar Rapids school districts, Rebling amassed impressive accolades in the military.

Rebling is a native of Fairfield and graduated from FHS in 2010. He wasted no time in joining the Iowa Army National Guard, and has been a guitarist and vocalist for the 34th Army Band. He performed in the 2013 U.S. Army Soldier Show. On top of his musical achievements, Rebling has won awards for his marksmanship.

During his remarks, Rebling spoke about the military stories he heard from his grandfather Lane Bush and his friends at the “Howard Johnson Coffee Club.”

“Grandpa served over 40 years in the Iowa Army National Guard, and I remember growing up listening to all the stories that came from the places he’d seen and the people he worked with, and even some of the things he probably shouldn’t have done at the time, but were adventures nonetheless,” Rebling said.

Rebling said the men at grandpa’s coffee club told stories of flying airplanes over Europe, or digging through trenches in Vietnam, and all the things that bound them together in the name of service to country.

“As we close out today and stand here on this Memorial Day morning, we should remember those that have walked before us, those that have served before us, and that to remember the price of liberty and these freedoms that we have is not just written in ink and the Constitution or in our Declaration of Independence,” Rebling said. “It's written in the blood of those that have served to protect us in these times. It's etched on gravestones, memorial walls, and, of course, it’s always carried in the hearts of those who remember those. So, from today, let us be people of service. Let's speak their names. Let's tell the stories. Let's honor their memory not only in words, but in how we live, how we love and how we serve.”