Memorial Day observances set

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Mountain Home will host Memorial Day services beginning at 11 a.m. May 30 at Mountain View Cemetery.

Memorial Day represents a tradition that dates back more than 150 years and continues to bring veterans, families and friends together in the Mountain Home area, said Jack Schafhausen, American Legion vice commander for the Department of Idaho.

"The members of the American Legion posts 26 and 101 understand that bond and tradition. That is why we honor our fallen comrades, Schafhausen said. "We hope many citizens of Mountain Home will join us in remembering those who died for our freedom."

Representatives with the local American Legion posts will hold three observances during the Memorial Day weekend. The first begins at 3 p.m. May 29 at the Prairie Cemetery in Prairie.

The yearly event in Mountain Home on May 30 will be followed by another at 2 p.m. at the Pine Cemetery in Pine.

"The veterans we pause to remember on Memorial Day are the patriots who left their homes and families when their country called," Schafhausen said. "They gave the last measure of devotion in defense of our freedom.

"We are committed to keeping the memory of their sacrifice for generations to come," Schafhausen added.

Formed following World War I, the American Legion continues to work for all veterans, their families and their children, he said. The nation's largest wartime veterans organization, it has nearly 2.5 million members in more than 14,000 posts in the United States and around the world.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. It was first observed May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery -- a tradition that continues today.

As part of this year's observance, Legion members will place American flags at the grave site of veterans buried at cemetery starting at 5 p.m. May 27.

"We want to place a flag on every fellow veteran's grave site," Schafhausen said. "We have upgraded our cemetery maps, but we know that some sites are not marked."

The post is asking the public's help to ensure every veteran buried at the cemetery is properly honored.

"If we have missed a grave site in the past, please call us and let us know the exact location so we can make sure every veterans' grave site will have an American flag," Schafhausen said. "It is vitally important to us to honor our veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country."

Post officials need those gravesite updates by 5 p.m. May 27. For more information on this year's Memorial Day observances, call the Post 26 office at 587-3447.