American Legion Hosts Memorial Day Celebration

American Legion Post 404 will be hosting a Memorial Day Ceremony at the Marco Island Lutheran Church at 525 N Collier Blvd, Marco Island on May 30, 2022 at 11:00 AM to honor all America’s Heroes who didn’t come home. All are welcome to participate in this celebration of our brave men and women who paid the ultimate price to defend our freedoms. The ceremony will be held in the Lutheran Church sanctuary which has a capacity for 400. Seating will be on a first come basis with Veterans having priority.

Originally called Decoration Day, from the early tradition of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags, Memorial Day is a day for remembrance of those who have died in service to our country. It was first widely observed on May 30,1868 to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers. During that first national commemoration, former Union Gen. and sitting Ohio Congressman, James Garfield, made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery. “We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country, they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” Following the speech, 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there. After World War I, it became an occasion for honoring those who died in all of America’s wars and was then more widely established as a national holiday throughout the United States. In 1971 it officially became a U.S. holiday and is now celebrated on the last Monday in May.

Rear Admiral Kenneth Duetsch, US Navy (Ret.), will be the guest speaker. The ceremony will include a presentation on American Military Cemeteries found around the world, providing a final resting place for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who died defending freedom overseas. Lee Rubenstein, Post 404 Commander, will be the Master of Ceremony (MC).Rear Admiral Kenneth Duetsch, US Navy (Ret.), will be the guest speaker. The ceremony will include a presentation on American Military Cemeteries found around the world, providing a final resting place for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who died defending freedom overseas. Lee Rubenstein, Post 404 Commander, will be the Master of Ceremony (MC).