Community, veterans honor those who served
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER) A representative of Boy Scout Troop 308 walks through Lakeview Cemetery before the start of Monday’s Memorial Day tribute. A ceremony was also held at Pinecrest Cemetery earlier in the day.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER) A father and his young daughters pay tribute to those lost at Monday’s Memorial Day tribute at Pinecrest Cemetery.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)Marine Corps League members stand at attention during Monday's Memorial Day ceremony to honor those who died in service to their country.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)Representatives from Boy Scout Troop 308 and their family salute during a portion on Monday's Memorial Day ceremony at Lakeview Cemetery.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)Members of Boy Scout Troop 308 perform color guard duties to kick off the Memorial Day ceremony at Pinecrest Cemetery on Monday.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)Boys Scouts with Troop 308 get ready to raise the flag at Lakeview Cemetery before lowering it to half-mast on Memorial Day during Monday's ceremony.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)Bill Stevens, past department commander for the American Legion, speaks at a Memorial Day tribute at Lakeview Cemetery on Monday in Sandpoint.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)A local resident holds a flag as he attends a Memorial Day ceremony at PInecrest Cemetery on Monday.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)A Bonner County resident wanders through flags paying tribute to the community's veterans who served their country before the start of Monday's Memorial Day ceremony at Pinecrest Cemetery.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)A member of Boy Scout Troop 308 plays "Taps" on the bugle at Pinecrest Cemetery during Monday's Memorial Day ceremony.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)Local veterans stand at attention and salute the flag as Boy Scout Troop 308 performs color guard duties.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)A resident takes a picture of a veteran's grave as she waits for the start of Monday's Memorial Day ceremony at Pinecrest Cemetery.
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)Boys Scouts with Troop 308 get ready to raise the flag at Pinecrest Cemetery before lowering it to half-mast on Memorial Day during Monday's ceremony.
SANDPOINT — Small American flags lined graves at the community’s cemeteries, paying tribute to those who served — especially those who died in service to — their country.
“Today we’re here to honor these young men and women that these flags on these graves represent,” Memorial Day emcee Bill Stevens told those gathered at a morning tribute at Pinecrest Cemetery. “They went to war for us, they came home, they raised families and then sent their sons to war.”
In all the wars in which the country has fought, Stevens said the goals have included “keeping ‘em off our beaches” and to keep the country secure so future generations can grow up to become good citizens without having to worry about going off to war.
Stevens echoed those thoughts at Lakeview Cemetery at a Memorial Day tribute held in the early afternoon. He noted the cemetery, one of the community’s oldest, has veterans from World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Korea, the Civil War and the Spanish American War.
“It is those we honor today,” Stevens said. “They went to war, all of them came back who are here. Some of those young men have never come home. World War II, we have a lot left in Europe. Vietnam, we’re still trying to find ‘em and we’re finding ‘em. We’re not giving up until the last man comes home. That’s a pledge we sorta get when we enlist: If anything happens to us, we WILL come home.”
As the community, and the country, honors those who can’t be here, Stevens asked those gathered at both cemeteries to hold those we lost in their hearts and to pass their word on, to take care of the veterans.
“It’s a sorry world we’re in,” he said. “We’ve been at war for a long while. They’re going to be coming home pretty soon, those boys in the Middle East, and they’re going to need every stitch of help we can give. Some of them have come home already. They gave it all and they’ll be honored when they get here but the others? Look after the veterans.”
Not only will those veterans be a valued workforce to local businesses, but when somebody needs help, Stevens said those men and women who have served respond in force to help their community.
“Anyway, that’s what we’re here for today, to honor our past warriors and to think of those that might be coming later,” he added.
Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, who gave the invocation at Pinecrest Cemetery to start the day, called on the community to remember the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that Americans enjoy.
“We pray, Lord, that we would never forget those who fell to establish the freedoms and the kind of life that we have here,” Wheeler prayed. “We ask Lord that you would bless the service and that you would never let us forget what we have here in the United States and we ask a blessing upon our county and our state and our federal government and that you would continue to keep us safe.”
Answering a call from Stevens after the previously scheduled chaplain was unable to attend at the last minute, Al Rankin asked God and the crowd at Lakeview Cemetery to memorialize those who have protected the country and stood up for righteousness.
“We ask your blessing upon each one who has served,” Rankin said in his prayer. “We pray for your grace and mercy and comfort for those who have passed on and we pray for your strength for each day.”
Following Stevens’ brief talk, representatives from each of the community military organizations placed small American flags at a flagpole to memorialize those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Among those groups memorializing those who died were the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary, American Legion and Auxiliary, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America, Marine Corps League, Daughters of the American Revolution. In addition, Boy Scout Troop 308 presented colors at both Pinecrest and Lakeview cemeteries.
Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.