Washington honors Memorial Day

A slight chill and overcast sky set the pensive tone for Memorial Day observances in Washington on Monday.

Veterans and their families observed as members of the Boy Scout troop raised the American and POW flags to half-staff at the Washington post office at 8 a.m.

The group then moved to Crooked Creek Bridge, where a service was held to honor those who died at sea.

“This bridge, as other bridges we have created in life, is a means of connection,” Post Commander Mike York said. “Throughout our global community we continue to build bridges to reach out to others. To provide peace, to provide safety, and share liberties and provide security for citizens of all nations. Those who have served and those who are still serving helped build those connections.”

York, along with several observers, cast wreathes of flowers into the creek after his speech at the bridge, a symbolic honor to those lost at sea.

The color guard carried the Harry B. Barker Marine Corps League Detachment flag alongside its typical array. The flag, which previously flew over the Washington Marine Corps detachment in honor of the Marine captain who posthumously received the Navy Cross in 1944, was presented by Greg Mangold, a nephew of Barker’s.

After a three-shot volley, taps, and retiring of the colors, the group dispersed before reconvening in Washington Central Park at 10 a.m. for the main ceremony sponsored by Leon Beatty American Legion Post 29.

“We have come on this very special day to honor those who are not here” Chaplain Gene Carpenter said during the invocation. “We wish that they could be with us, but they have been willing to go, protect and not come home.”

The keynote speaker of the main service was Dale Torpey, who served for four years in the U.S. Navy.

“Today isn’t about barbecues and baseball, or how nice the weather is,” Torpey said in his address. “We have come here today to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. That seems to roll off of our tongues very easily. But I want you to remember and really think about what those words really, really mean.”

Torpey’s speech focused on the selflessness displayed by the Veterans honored by the holiday.

“The common thread of these men and women was that they were unselfish, they were always thinking of someone else,” he said. “It was never about them. We are honor-bound today to make it about them, and that is what we intend to do.”