Memorial Day

by Richard T. Meagher / staff photographer see the enlargement HALFWAY - Five days after most people enjoyed a Memorial Day holiday designated so workers have a three-day weekend, a group of about 50 Washington County veterans and local officials observed the traditional Memorial Day in a solemn ceremony Saturday morning. Gathered at the county Veterans Memorial Garden in Martin L. "Marty" Snook Memorial Park, various veterans organizations laid wreaths and spoke in tribute of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The Joint Veterans Council of Washington County will conduct a Memorial Day remembrance ceremony at 9 a.m. at Martin L. "Marty" Snook Memorial Park in Halfway. The featured speaker will be Maryland's Secretary of Veterans Affairs James A. Adkins. The Funkstown War Memorial will be rededicated in a ceremony at 3 p.m. The memorial, at the east end of town at Edgewood Drive and Alternate U.S. 40., commemorates the sacrifices veterans have made fighting for freedom. The town of Smithsburg will host a Memorial Day ceremony at 6 p.m. in Veterans Park on West Water Street.

Many citizens of the Tri-State area spent yesterday enjoying the last day of a three-day holiday weekend. Memorial Day has become the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, but as our readers come home from the beach or clean up the barbecue grill, we ask them to spend some time today reflecting on the true meaning of Memorial Day. Memorial Day was first observed on May 5, 1866, in Waterloo, N.Y., to honor those who died in the Civil...

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. - In a ceremony marked by artillery fire from Civil War re-enactors and references to Civil War dead at the site, a larger-than-usual crowd of roughly 300 people turned out Monday morning at Edge Hill Cemetery for a Memorial Day service. People lined a gravel road leading past graves of Civil War soldiers as speakers remembered other past conflicts such as the Korean War, Vietnam War and both world wars. About 200 Civil War soldiers are buried in the cemetery along Seminary Street, and reference was made to the graves of 35 unknown soldiers.

andrear@herald-mail.com Respect, rest and recreation topped Memorial Day agendas in Washington County on Monday. People gathered at area cemeteries to pay tribute to fallen veterans, at parks to picnic and spend time with friends and family, at shopping malls to take advantage of holiday savings and at pools and in gardens to savor the mild weather. "This is a rest day," said Earl Keller, 81, of Hagerstown. Keller worked under sunny skies Monday morning planting tomatoes and other vegetables in his garden before joining friend Russell Neff on a bench at Valley Mall in Hagerstown for a break, he said.

At times struggling to find words to explain it, a U.S. Armycolonel with 27 years of experience asked about 50 people gathered at a Memorial Day ceremony Sunday downtown to grasp some of the United States' accomplishments. It's a country that rebuilt Germany after it destroyed it, said Richard Hembrock, who is also acting chaplain of Morris Frock Post 42 of the American Legion on Northern Avenue. The U.S. also rebuilt England and Japan, and when disaster strikes anywhere across the globe, it is often the U.S. that rushes in with aid for those afflicted, Hembrock said.

By KAREN MASTERSON Staff Writer HALFWAY - Local veterans of war gathered Friday for a noon celebration of what they called the real Memorial Day. "Not too many people know (May 30) is really Memorial Day. We're stubborn and celebrate it," said Maj. Dieter Protsch, secretary of the Joint Veterans Council of Washington County. About 50 veterans in uniform and supporters congregated around the war memorial in Martin L. Snook Memorial Park. Sgt. Ray Linebaugh, president of the Joint Veterans Council, said the federal government "cheapens" Memorial Day by making it part of a long, commercialized weekend.

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- Hundreds of people filtered into Memorial Park on Monday to remember fallen soldiers. For Dennis Gift, that meant honoring his big brother. It was a solemn day for Gift as he spent his first Memorial Day without his older brother, Leroy, who died three months ago. "No matter how long you prepare for death, it's still hard," said Dennis Gift, 61. "He was my big brother. " Last year, Dennis Gift could honor Leroy on Veterans Day. Since he died Feb. 25, Dennis now remembers him on Memorial Day as well.

HAGERSTOWN It's the day the swimming pool opens. It's a chance for an extra 15 percent off at Macy's. It's a day off from school or work. Some at Cedar Lawn Memorial Park said Sunday that the meaning of Memorial Day has changed for many. It is now more about cookouts and pool parties, and less about the brave men and women who died serving in the nation's armed forces, they said. But more than 50 people gathered Sunday at Cedar Lawn to remember those who died and to celebrate what they said was the true meaning of the day. Mary Ann Kriner and her husband, Wayne, both of Hagerstown, said it was their first time at the annual Memorial Day service.