Marysville honors fallen veterans

Marysville community members gathered at the local cemetery to remember fallen veterans as part of the annual Memorial Day ceremony.

American Legion Post 178 from Marysville holds the event at the Marysville Cemetery each year to honor the holiday.

“It’s a day we set aside to provide special honor to those who have died in service to our country,” said Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring at the ceremony.

“It is the memory of them that burns inside of us today,” he said.

Historically the holiday began as Decoration Day as graves of Civil War veterans were decorated and remembered as part of the tradition.

“The day was born out of response from the devastating and unprecedented death toll of the Civil War,” said Nehring.

“It ravaged communities across our country,” he said.

Today, Memorial Day continues the tradition of giving recognition to military service members who have passed away.

“It serves to focus our memory on something or someone,” said Nehring. “It’s so vital that we preserve the memory of those who have died in the service to our nation."

Daniel Grumbach, commander of American Legion Post 178, took the opportunity to remember a couple of local veterans who have recently passed.

“There are two of our Legion members that we lost, Ken Cage a couple of months ago and we lost Marty Bednar who we also lost a couple months ago,” said Grumbach.

Cage’s widow Ethel Cage helped the American Legion Auxiliary perform the flower presentation as part of the ceremony, with a red flower, a white flower and a blue flower laid at the cemetery.

The red flower was “in memory of those whose blood was shed on the field of battle,” the white “a symbol of purity on this sacred soil,” and the blue in memory of those who sleep beneath the ocean’s waves,” said Grumbach.

“One individual I miss greatly is Ken Cage, but his memory will go on forever in the city of Marysville,” said Nehring.

Grumbach also wanted to recognize some former soldiers he knew personally.

“Fifty years ago in April, an EC-121 reconnaissance plane was shot down by North Korea with a loss of 31 lives. I was originally scheduled to be on that plane and I remember these people well. I would like them remembered if possible,” he said.

The Marysville American Legion also welcomed community members to an open house were they celebrated the 100th year of the American Legion.

“This year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the American Legion as it was started in 1919 in Paris, France, after World War I,” he said.

Nehring also gave thanks to the local American Legion who organize the event each year.

“They dedicatedly put this on every single year so that we have an opportunity to remember,” he said.