Wellman American Legion post hosts Memorial Day service

The Charles A. Polton American Legion Post No. 427 put on its annual Memorial Day service Monday morning at the Wellman Cemetery.

Following the “Star Spangled Banner” played by the Mid-Prairie marching band, wreaths representing each war the United States has fought were placed at the cenotaph.

Post Commander Chuck Singleman gave the Memorial Day address.

“We’re here to honor all of our fallen heroes,” Singleman said, reminding the people gathered at the cemetery that there are a number of ways to show their support.

“We can wear the poppy,” he said. “We can place flags and wreaths at their graves. We can donate to charities that provide for their families.

“And we can look at their surviving brothers and sisters-in-arms and say, ‘Thank you for your service.’”

He told the story of 19-year-old Connecticut National Guard member Cindy Beaudoin who lost her life in the first Gulf War.

Singleman read from a letter she sent to her family.

“’I did not come here to be a hero,’ she wrote,” Singleman read. “’I came here because my country needed me to be here.’

“Cindy Beaudoin did not die in vain. Neither did any other American who we honor on Memorial Day.”

Singleman said that it was the devotion to country that led all the men and women to give their lives for the country.

“It is hard for us — the living — to equate ourselves with those who made such a sacrifice,” he said. “The surviving loved ones do not have to look very far to find their heroes.”

Following Singleman’s address, the honor guard fired three volleys to salute the deceased soldiers, followed by “Taps” played by members of the Mid-Prairie band.

The service ended with the band playing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” followed by Singleman reading the poem, “The Unknown Soldier.”