Carmichaels honors vets
Carmichaels Memorial Day paradegoers are, front from left, Avery Voithofer, 4, Zach Hillsman, 10, Carson Hillsman, 5, and Megan Voithofer, 6; and, in back, Erin Harbarger, 6, Tabatha Wise, 14, and Kolby Harbarger, 11.
Steve Hillsman of Carmichaels American Legion Post 400 places a wreath during the Memorial Day Service at Laurel Point Cemetery.
Carmichaels American Legion Post 400 Band performs at Laurel Point Cemetery for Memorial Day.
Members of the American Legion Post 400 marching band, led by retired Army Maj. Frank Ricco, participate in the Memorial Day parade in Carmichaels.
Local Tiger and Bear scouts march in the Memorial Day parade in Carmichaels Monday.
The Carmichaels Junior Senior High School marching band, led by assistant band director Erin Drury, march along North Market Street in Carmichaels Monday.
American Legion Post 200 Honor Guard at Laurel Point Cemetery
Carmichaels-Cumberland Township firefighters participated in a Memorial Day parade Monday. Nemacolin volunteer firefighters also took part.
Carmichaels American Legion Post 200 Honor Guard with firing squad stand in a steady drizzle to perform duties at Laurel Point Cemetery Monday.
CARMICHAELS – A steady rain fell Monday but that didn’t deter more than 200 people from gathering at Laurel Point Cemetery in Carmichaels for a Memorial Day service. The service followed a parade of veterans organizations, the Carmichaels High School marching band, the American Legion Post 400 marching band, the Post 400 honor guard, the Post 400 Ladies Auxiliary, local Cub Scouts and fire departments.
The scene was a familiar one for Kit Watson, American Legion State Adjutant. Watson grew up in Carmichaels. As a young man, he worked at Laurel Point Cemetery and, like the dozens of youngsters there Monday, had attended many of its past Memorial Day gatherings.
Watson spoke with fondness and somewhat wistfully of the changing of the guard. He looked to the Carmichaels American Legion Post 400 Honor Guard standing in the rain, as its members have done so many times before. As he recalled years past, Watson said time passes so quickly.
“It seems like not too long ago they were here and now they are gone,” he said of departed members of Post 400. “Year after year, Andy Bystry, with such a commanding voice, spoke. Veterans like Andy are missed sadly, missed greatly.”
Watson remembered veterans who passed more recently, like Army Specialist Gregory Cox, 21, who died Sept. 27, 2004 in Iraq. He read from the letter left behind by Sgt. William Stacy, 23, of Redding, Calif. Stacy was on his fourth deployment to Iraq when, on a foot patrol Jan. 31, 2012, he was killed by a homemade bomb.
“My death did not change the world; it may be tough for you to justify its meaning at all. But there is a greater meaning to it. Perhaps I did not change the world. Perhaps there is still injustice in the world,” the letter read.
Watson continued reading, “But there will be a child who will live because men left the security they enjoyed in their home country to come to his. And this child will learn in the new schools that have been built. He will walk his streets not worried about whether or not his leader’s henchmen are going to come and kidnap him. He will grow into a fine man who will pursue every opportunity his heart could desire.”
Watson recalled 87-year old Herman Miller, who would not be alive today had it not been for the heroic act of Capt. Emil Kapaun. With an enemy soldier standing over Miller, rifle aimed, Kapaun pushed him aside, picked up his comrade and carried him to safety. Kapaun was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in April. Kapaun’s storied history of bravery during the Korean War came to a close May 23, 1951, when the 35-year-old died in a prison camp.
Recalling the words of President Barack Obama, as Kapaun was honored, Watson said, “This is the valor we honor today – an American soldier who didn’t fire a gun, but who wielded the mightiest weapon of all, a love for his brothers so pure that he was willing to die so that they might live.”
And this, Watson said, is why we must “live life to its fullest,” because those, like Bystry, Cox, Kapaun and the honor guard standing in the rain, sacrificed so we can. Watson said Memorial Day isn’t about beach trips, picnics and auto races. Quoting President Abraham Lincoln, Watson said, we must, “to care for him who shall have born the battle” also care for his widow, children and parents and provide for them.
“Sgt. Stacy believed his sacrifice was worth it,” Watson said. “It is up to you and I to prove him right.”