American Legion hosts Lincoln's Memorial Day Service

[May 31, 2016]  LINCOLN - One of several Memorial Day observation ceremonies was held at the American Legion Hall in Lincoln on Monday morning. A few dozen people gathered together to honor the service and memory of United States troops both past and present. The ceremony was followed by a lunch of ham and beans.

The Ladies of the American Legion Auxiliary presented the traditional wreath, and the American Legion Color Guard performed the traditional rifle salute, along with a performance of Taps. Pastor Brad Curtis of the First United Methodist Church gave both the beginning invocation and the ending benediction.

Joe Schaler, a veteran of the Vietnam War was the guest speaker of the day’s ceremony. Schaler is a proponent for veteran’s assistance in Logan County. Schaler spoke in honor of the many soldiers who have served in the U.S. military throughout history.

Schaler shared a personal anecdote of how he and his mother would place flowers on veterans’ graves each year.

Initially established as Decoration Day for the observation of placing flowers on the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers, Congress officially recognized Memorial Day as a day of remembering all soldiers who have given their lives in service to our country and declared the date to be as the last Monday in May.

Schaler said, “Since then, we continue to honor our fallen troops.” Schaler said that we should not only remember the troops, but we must remember to respect the families that were left behind, as well as troops serving now.

Schaler asked for applause in recognition of the several ceremonies occurring in the county on Monday, as well as the members of the local Legion office. Following Schaler’s speech, Wayne Schrader led the crowd in singing “God Bless America.”

[Derek Hurley]