| Paying Tribute To The Fallen Soldiers | |||
| By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Published May 27, 2009 Moapa Valley celebrated its fallen soldiers with pomp and ceremony on Monday, May 25. The community Veteran’s organizations were active throughout last week in preparing for and celebrating this national day of rememberance and appreciation. Members of the American Legion and VFW posts gathered at area cemeteries last week to place flags on the graves of veterans that were buried there. The American Legion decorated graves at the Logandale Cemetery. The VFW members did so at the Pioneer and the St. Thomas Cemeteries in Overton. Veterans groups also decorated he community’s main highway with flags on both sides for the holiday as well. On Memorial Day itself, the American Legion held a morning flagraising ceremony for the public at the army tank in Overton. Post Commander Dennis Vance, |
 Flags decorate the graves of Moapa Valley veterans at the Logandale Cemetery on Memorial Day morning, May 25. |
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| Roy McGregor and Don VanMiddendorp raised the colors while other post members and Moapa Valley residents stood at attention. Overton resident and post bugler, Joe Perez, played “To the Colors” on the bugle as the flag was raised to half staff. Then he played “Taps”, in memory of the fallen soldiers.
The ceremony concluded with Post Chaplain, David Fox, reading his essay on Memorial Day. The essay looked back to Memorial Day of 1945; a time when the nation was still fighting in World War II. Fox himself is a veteran of World War II. Fox related the historical events that had led up to that Memorial Day in 1945. The year had begun with the Battle of the Bulge in Germany where there were over 80,000 Allied casualties. In February and March of that year, the Marine invasion of Iwo Jima had taken place in the Pacific where there were over 28,000 Allied casualties and nearly 7,000 killed in action. In April, the Allies invaded Okinawa at a cost of 35,000 men. |
 The local American Legion Post held a morning flagraising ceremony in Overton on Memorial Day. Pictured here l to r are Roy McGregor, Commander Dennis Vance and Don VanMiddendorp. |
Fox related that his parents had gone to visit the graves of his grandfathers on that Memorial Day in 1945. Both of his grandfathers had been Civil War Veterans who had fought on opposite sides.
“Freedom comes at a cost,” Fox said. “It is those brave men and women in uniform who pay it.” In the evening, the VFW Post held a flag lowering candlelight ceremony at the Pioneer Cemetery in Overton. As is tradition, the winners of the Fourth of July Celebration Committee Essay Contest were announced and read their essays as part of the ceremony. Winners included Tahnee German and Lynae Barlow (age 11-12 category), Alyssa Zerkle and Cymoni Cooper (13-14), Calvin McMurray and Bryanna Sheldon (15-16) and Kelsey Martin and Wendy Cook (17-18). |
