Sugarcreek Memorial Day honors those who answered the call

The Memorial Day service sponsored by Homer Weiss Post 494 of the American Legion in Sugarcreek took place Monday, May 25, led by Post Cmdr. Linda Stefanov.

The post held ceremonies at the veterans memorial in Walnut Creek, Dundee Cemetery, Eastlawn Cemetery in Sugarcreek, Union Hill Cemetery at the grave of Homer Weiss and Ragersville Cemetery.

Stefanov welcomed those in attendance.

“The cross we lay, the graves we mark and the fallen who rest in places unknown, each of these individuals have a story to tell,” Stefanov said.

She said as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, it is because of the many who chose to serve that this celebration is possible.

Serving as the keynote speaker was Jason Thornton, the current Tuscarawas County Veterans Service director and a Marine Corps veteran. He began his Marine career in 1993. In 2005 he was selected for the warrant officer commissioning program, where he earned Warrant Office 1 status, becoming one of only 36 warrant finance officers in the Marine Corps.

He served in support in Iraq for Operation Enduring Freedom and in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007 and 2008, where he was instrumental in the rebuilding of the Iraqi infrastructure. He completed 20 years of active-duty service.

Thornton said Memorial Day is to honor and remember the nation's fallen heroes.

“I’m deeply honored to stand before you today commemorating the sacrifices of our military men and women who laid down their lives in service to provide freedom that we enjoy in this great nation,” Thornton said.

He also honored family members who lost a loved one in service, noting it doesn’t matter how much time has passed. No words can ever provide enough solace to satisfy a survivor’s grief.

“Those families truly understand the meaning of service and loss,” Thornton said. “We owe them the deepest gratitude and unwavering support.”

Thornton’s main message focused on how the men and women who died in service to country and freedom never really knew what day may be their last.

“They may have never known that they’d be called upon to storm the beaches through hail of gunfire, but they were willing to give up everything in defense of our freedom," Thornton said. "They couldn’t know they’d be called to jump into the mountains of Afghanistan to seek an elusive enemy. They were willing to sacrifice all for their country.

“While they couldn’t possibly know they’d be called upon to leave this world for another, they were willing to take that chance to save the lives of their brothers and sisters in arms.”

He asked a simple question: What is this sense of duty that tugs at a person’s heart until he or she makes such a huge decision to serve?

He said in a world and at a time when so many people entering the prime of life are focused on self-interests, why do those who serve choose serving others over themselves?

“They felt that tug; they answered the call,” Thornton said. “When the nation called, they answered. No matter how they found their way into the ranks of the military, each took it upon themselves to serve faithfully and to their fullest.”

In honoring those who laid down their lives, he said every name etched into a gravestone, every folded flag handed to a grieving family member represents a story of courage, sacrifice and love of country in the name of freedom.

“They were sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors,” Thornton said. “They answered a call greater than themselves. They stood in harm’s way so that we could live in freedom, raise our families in peace and pursue our dreams.

“The cost has been paid by generations of Americans who believed some things are worth defending: our liberty, justice and a promise of this great nation. It is the immense collective sacrifice that has kept our country safe and free.”

After the Boy Scouts raised the flag to open the ceremony and the Garaway High School marching band played the national anthem, Miller Avenue School student Baxton Troyer read "The Gettysburg Address," and classmate McKinley Raber presented “In Flanders Fields.”

In addition, Civil War reenactor Franklin Hershberger and family placed the Medal of Honor flag at the grave of Milton Blickensderfer.