The Shadow
The Alleghany Highlands paused Monday to observe Memorial Day with services throughout the area.
In the top photo, Willard Camp, left, and Richard Erskine conduct a cermonial folding of the American flag as fellow VFW Post 4299 member Jim Rhodes explains the meaning behind each fold during a ceremony held at Longdale United Methodist Church.
In the bottom photo, Edna Craghead remembers her son, Thomas Craghead Jr., whose name is etched on the Vietnam War Memorial at the Alleghany County Courthouse in downtown Covington.
(Josh Hagy and Gavin Dressler Photos)
The Alleghany Highlands paused Monday to observe Memorial Day with services throughout the area.
In the top photo, Willard Camp, left, and Richard Erskine conduct a cermonial folding of the American flag as fellow VFW Post 4299 member Jim Rhodes explains the meaning behind each fold during a ceremony held at Longdale United Methodist Church.
In the bottom photo, Edna Craghead remembers her son, Thomas Craghead Jr., whose name is etched on the Vietnam War Memorial at the Alleghany County Courthouse in downtown Covington.
(Josh Hagy and Gavin Dressler Photos)
•
•
•
•
CLIFTON FORGE — Clifton Forge Veterans of Foreign War Post 4299 and the Sharon Ruritan Club held their annual Memorial Day services Monday morning.
“Memorial Day is the time for Americans to reconnect with their history and values by honoring those who gave their lives for the ideals we cherish,” said post member the Rev. C.T. McHenry.
Services began early Monday at Veterans Park in downtown Clifton Forge, where VFW member Jim Rhodes spoke briefly before the ceremonial playing of “Taps” by Richard Erskine.
“Today is a day dedicated exclusively for honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Rhodes told the small crowd gathered at the park. “However, let us be mindful to do everything within our power to support our soldiers, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen who are stationed around the world.”
Speaking at Longdale United Methodist Church, McHenry lamented the fact the many Americans have forgotten the meaning of Memorial Day.
“All too many citizens today view military service merely as images seen on television and movies,” he said. “For a large part of the American people, Memorial Day has come to mean simply a three-day weekend or a major shopping day.
Families might still gather for picnics, but the patriotic core, the spirit of remembrance, is lost.
“You are doing an important thing, you are making a difference, by being here today,” McHenry told the congregation. “We in this country owe a great debt of gratitude to those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live free. We can start to pay that debt by not forgetting, by remembering what they did and what they stood for.”
He also noted the passing of World War II veteran Buck Rumpf in his remarks.
Post Chaplain Willard Camp offered a Memorial Day prayer at both services.
“Heavenly Father, bless our country with freedom, peace and righteousness,” he prayed. “Through thy favor may we meet at last before thy throne in Heaven. We praise thy great name forever.”
The service at Longdale UMC also included the traditional Ceremony of the Empty Chair and a ceremonial folding of the United States flag by Erskine and Camp.
