Memorial Day tributes across Central Oregon remember the ultimate sacrifice
Cities across Central Oregon mourned and honored the military personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country this Memorial Day. Originally known as Decoration Day, the annual observance serves as a solemn reminder of those who gave everything to preserve our freedom.
Observances in Bend, Redmond, Prineville, and Sisters included flag displays, parades, and wreath-laying ceremonies.
Cadets with the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) from Mountain View High School, La Pine, and Crook County were in Washington, D.C., and marched in the 250th Memorial Day Parade.
Bend and Redmond Remember Those We Lost
Bend Heroes Foundation and volunteers honored Bend's 112 war dead by displaying 250 flags at Bend Heroes Memorial in Brooks Park, along Veterans Memorial Bridge and throughout downtown Bend. This year marks the 21st year that Boy Scout Troop 25 has volunteered to display flags on Memorial Day, as well as Independence Day.
Boy Scout Troop 25, led by scoutmaster Travis Farstvedt, will begin its Memorial Day activities with a brief ceremony at Bend Heroes Memorial at 7 a.m. The President's Memorial Day proclamation will be read, followed by flag installations. Every flag displayed bears the name of a veteran, a veterans group or Boy Scout Troop 25, and all flags were previously flown over the nation's Capitol.
A memorial service was held this afternoon at Desuetude Memorial Gardens, organized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and several other veterans organizations.
The service honored fallen service members, with people gathering to speak of the great sacrifice. The night before, Boy Scouts and other volunteers placed flags and flowers on the graves of the war dead in preparation for the event.
Brigadier General Price, an Air Force officer, was invited to this year's ceremony. He told the story of Sergeant Edward Cantrell and Private Lewis Debold. Their graves are some of the oldest military graves in Oregon. More than 160 years ago, Cantrell and Debold served in the 14th Infantry Regiment. They were assigned to Fort Hall and tasked with exploring eastern Oregon. The regiment built a winter encampment at on the slopes of Hart Mountain. The two men died and were buried there. The camp was disbanded the following year, but the graves remained. Now their white marble headstones are surrounded by nothing but sagebrush and beautiful scenery.
Price highlighted the importance of remembering such individuals. "They're still sitting out there all by themselves," Price said. "And it's a time to remember those kind of people that are, part our military heritage, but just aren't in a place that we would normally recognize them." The general added that while millions of service people gave their lives and are worthy of remembrance, it is important to call attention to those who might become forgotten.
Following the service, families took time to talk with each other and share stories of the men and women honored. A free spaghetti dinner was provided at the VFW after the service.
In Redmond, flags will line Terrebonne Pioneer Cemetery to honor fallen service members, including Medal of Honor recipient Robert "Bob" Dale Maxwell. A ceremony ran from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. The community is also invited to Redmond Memorial Gardens for another ceremony from 11 a.m. to noon. Redmond citizens have paid for and participated in placing major flag displays on every patriotic holiday every year since 1991.
Crook County Remembers the Ultimate Sacrifice
Prineville's Memorial Day events include a parade from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., starting at 4th and Main Street. The parade will travel east down 4th Street to Elm Street, ending at the Memorial Park area of Ochoco Creek Park, which features POW/MIA and Hot Shots monuments.
Following the parade, attendees walked north one block to the Elm Street Bridge for a special wreath ceremony. Representatives from the Prineville VFW Auxiliary and American Legion will ceremonially drop all-natural memorial wreaths into Ochoco Creek in honor of U.S. military veterans who died at sea.
Honoring the Fallen in Sisters
In Sisters, observances will take place at Sisters Village Green Park at 11 a.m. Brigadier General Jim Cunningham will deliver the keynote address. Cunningham, a retired captain for United Airlines, is also a member of the Central Oregon Veterans Outreach Program. He previously served as the Commander of Oregon National Guard, where he was responsible for the organization, training and equipping of seven units and more than 2,100 personnel within the state.
Cunningham gained combat experience as a forward air controller in the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, during the Vietnam War. The Sisters' observances are sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars post 8138, American Legion post 86 and Band of Brothers-Sisters. Lunch will follow the observances and all community members are invited.
