By Matt de Simone
The Town of Buchanan held the 77th annual Memorial Day service Monday at Solomon’s Mission. The program was moved from Fairview Cemetery to the mission due to inclement weather.
American Legion Post 93 Commander Charlie Alphin served as the event’s master of ceremonies, introducing David Austin and Keith Wood, who provided music at the beginning of the program, and the event’s keynote speaker, Martin Leamy, president and CEO of Central and Southwest Virginia Honor Flight.
Honor Flight is a nonprofit organization that schedules trips to Washington, D.C. for veterans in Bedford, Lexington, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Martinsville, and Danville. The trips are an opportunity for local veterans who have a desire to visit the national memorials that were created in their honor. Honor Flight trips are free of charge to veterans.
Leamy told the story of former NFL football player Pat Tillman, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002, following the attacks on September 11, 2001. In 2004, Tillman was killed in action in Afghanistan. Leamy also explained what Honor Flight does for local veterans and how to apply for upcoming trips. For more information about Central and Southwest Virginia Honor Flight, visit cswvirginiahonorflight.org.
Photos by Matt de Simone
The Memorial Day event was originally planned to take place at its usual location, Fairview Cemetery. There, Sirens & Salutes decorated the cemetery for this year’s Memorial Day weekend by placing memorial flags on the graves of fallen veterans and lined the cemetery’s fencing with flags representing each military division represented at Fairview. Additionally, Sirens & Salutes provided flags on grave markers at Mountain View Cemetery in Vinton, and the Daleville, Troutville, Trinity, Mill Creek, Lithia Baptist Church, and Lithia United Methodist Church cemeteries. The organization puts out over 1,000 flags annually to honor local veterans.
