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A time to reflect
Boy Scout Tommy Calpin, 10, of Shavertown, shows his patriotism by marching with a flag.
Jonathan J. Juka/ For The Times Leader
Brittany Weinstein, 11, of Trucksville, and Tanner Manzoni, 3, of Dallas, eagerly wait for the parade to start.
Jonathan J. Juka/ For The Times Leader
Three-year-old Justin Moss, of Shavertown, waves to the crowd.
Jonathan J. Juka/ For The Times Leader
Charles Kishbaugh, left, of Dallas, holds an American Legion flag during a Memorial Day celebration in Dallas.
Jonathan J. Juka/ For The Times Leader
DALLAS — Back Mountain residents were out in droves to commemorate Memorial Day with a parade, patriotic music and speeches and private prayer.
Daddow-Isaacs American Legion Post 672 organized the parade, including three separate tributes to servicemen and women who have died. A large crowd witnessed the first ceremony at the monument in the center of Dallas, including a wreath-laying ceremony and a speech by retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Susan K. Allen.
The procession of veterans, antique cars, ball players, Scouts and the Dallas High School band made its way through Dallas to Warden Cemetery for another short ceremony.
Chapel Lawn provided a fitting setting for a third ceremony. The cemetery was a sea of red, white and blue, with nearly four dozen large flags flying high over close to 1,500 smaller flags.
Sam Puma, family service manager for Chapel Lawn, said Boy Scouts Troop 281 placed the flags on each of the flat markers over a veteran’s grave.
Daddow-Isaacs Post Commander Clarence J. Michael made note of the flags fluttering in a stiff breeze as he introduced the Dallas band to play the National Anthem. “As we join in,” Michael said, “let’s reflect on all these flags and feel the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’”
For the third time, Allen addressed the crowd. One of the first women to fly as a Navy pilot after the ban on women in combat was lifted in 1993, she spoke of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives and are remembered on Memorial Day. She quoted the Memorial Day address by President George W. Bush and said that those who served their country have done more than win battles or a war, they have won freedom for America.
State Rep. Karen Boback also addressed the crowd, noting the ceremony at Chapel Lawn was particularly significant to her because, while she was there, she would place a wreath on the grave of her parents.
“My father was a WWII veteran; my mother was Rosie the Riveter,” she said, adding her mother worked in a factory that built military helicopters during that war. “They taught me what patriotism is.”
While the parade and ceremonies provided plenty of public opportunity for remembrance, some chose more private ways to honor the dead. Before the crowd arrived for the formal ceremony at Chapel Lawn, Jackson Township resident Christine Lamoreaux followed the footsteps of the Confederate women who started the practice of decorating veterans’ graves in a tradition that led to Memorial Day.
Lamoreaux bent over the flag-decorated grave of grandparents Warren and Emma Sutton, remembering them in a private way. She said her grandfather, who was manager of Hillside Farms for 43 years, was also a World War II veteran who lost a close friend in combat.
“He would never talk about the war, not even when we asked him for school projects,” Lamoreaux said. “This day started because of them.
“He fought for something he believed in. It’s important to be here today to show we support them.”