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ELKINS -- The upcoming three-day holiday weekend will mark the unofficial start of summer for many, but for veterans and their families across the United States, the Memorial Day holiday means much more.
"Memorial Day is a day that we show our gratitude to all the fallen service members," said Elkins American Legion Post 29 Commander John Miller. "It's a very important day for family members who lost service members in the line of duty. It's a very emotional day for a lot of people."
American Legion Post 29 will hold its annual Memorial Day Celebration at the All-Veterans Memorial in Elkins at 11 a.m. on Monday. The event will feature guest speakers, the laying of wreaths and other tributes. In the event of rain, the celebration will be moved indoors to the American Legion.
"Johnnie Ross, who is a Reserve Ambassador for West Virginia, is going to be our guest speaker at the event," said Miller. "Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco is going to do the welcome and we will have several other guests attending. We will also have a church choir at the event and the VFW women."
Ross retired from the U.S. Army Reserve after serving 28 years in the Reserve Program. He served with the 561st Corps Support Group during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Liaison for AEP. He serves with the West Virginia Employer Support of the Guard Reserve (ESGR) in the Employer Outreach program. He currently is the Chair of the AEP Military Veterans Employee Resource Group and serves in multiple community organizations in Charleston. Ross has received multiple military awards to include the highly respected Bronze Star Award.
Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday in May each year, became an official federal holiday in 1971 and was created as a day to remember and honor the men and women who have been killed in U.S. wars throughout history
"Memorial Day is a day to remember the fallen," said Miller. "We've had a great turn out at the celebration the past couple years and hopefully the weather cooperates with us again this year."
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and began during the American Civil War when citizens placed flowers on the graves of those who had been killed in battle. After World War I the name was changed and it came to be observed in honor of those who had died in all U.S. wars.