Memorial Day observed

It was a sunny and pleasant morning of Memorial Day at Greenwood Cemetery on Monday.

Sandy Everman was quietly placing flowers at several graves, taking time and care. Stephanie and Doug Olsen were paying respects nearby.

There were flags and flowers everywhere.

A young student, David Thompson, wandered from a crowd gathering for the morning ceremony near the mausoleums. He carried a trumpet at his side and took up a post a distance away.

If one stood close to the purple flowering tree, it came alive with a surprising and urgent buzz of bumblebees.

There was a quiet hum of conversation as well, but all went quiet as Ruth Kimmel prayed and the solemn, sad sound of Taps stirred the air.

VFW Commander Danny Eaton read from a speech written by Bob Roche.

"We are fortunate to live in a country worth dying for, to be afforded a way of life worth dying for," Roche had written. "Today, we pay tribute to the heroic patriots who made the sacrifice, those who bravely rose up and fought for something greater than themselves, protecting a home to which they never returned. We honor their service, mourn their loss and remember the families they left behind. We are honor bound to uphold our sacred duty to preserve their legacy, and it remains our charge to never let America forget the sacrifice of so many."