FARMERS MILLS — Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor the fallen veterans of America’s numerous military conflicts. Services are held in cemeteries throughout the land, where the graves of fallen soldiers, sailors and pilots receive bouquets of fresh flowers and clean, new American flags.
About 100 people attended a service May 28 held in Farmers Mills, which has been occurring on Memorial Day for several decades. Attendees were issued flowers and flags, and then they walked about 300 feet up the road to the gates of Union Cemetery.
Flag bearer Tim Zerby, of Centre Hall, led the congregation, which ranged in age from toddlers to senior citizens, along a meandering path through the sylvan hillside cemetery, where they paused to lay flowers on veterans’ graves as they passed by.
In an address to the crowd of attendees, a member of Millheim American Legion Post No. 444 referred to the “almost visible presence” of the fallen veterans.
“Their bodies sleep in peace, but because of them, our lives are free. Because of them, our nation lives. Because of them, the whole world is blessed,” he said.
The cemetery services concluded with a 21-gun rifle volley, a Civil War-era cannon firing and the playing of taps.
Attendees then adjourned to Union Church for a service of patriotic hymns, prayers, readings and an address by guest speaker and local historian Evonne Henninger. Henninger read a list of Penns Valley residents who were killed in action in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. Her information included the veterans’ hometowns, their parents’ names, how, when and where they died and their places of burial.
The list included Harold W. Smith and Chester Pletcher, for whom the Smith-Pletcher American Legion Post No. 779 in Old Fort was named. Both were killed in World War II. The list also included Donald R. Lucas, who was killed in Vietnam, and for whom a stretch of Route 144 from Old Fort to Potters Mills was renamed.
“We don’t want our veterans forgotten,” Henninger said. “Today, at ceremonies all over the United States, young men and women will be remembered for giving the ultimate sacrifice in serving our country. We must remember then forever.”
At 1 p.m., a Memorial Day service was held at the Lutheran and Reformed Cemetery on Church Street in Centre Hall. Guest speaker for the service was retired history teacher and renowned Civil War historian Jeff Wert.
Wert spoke of a bloody Civil War battle, and posed the question, “Why did they do it?” He answered his question with a quote from a Civil War soldier, who said, “I fight for the best country ever created.”
Wert noted that the desire to fight for our country has persisted throughout America’s history, and is alive today.
“They believe that America is exceptional,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we’re better than any other country. It means we are different.
“We were not founded by a clan; we were not founded by an ethnic group. We were founded by an idea — that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The service concluded with a volley of rifle shots by a firing squad from American Legion Post No. 779 of Centre Hall, and the playing of taps by bugler Ryan Johnson.
