(June 2, 2016) While parts of Berlin’s annual Old Fashioned Memorial Day Parade carried on, albeit indoors, what was lost during the day’s celebration were the half-dozen ceremonies organized by the American Legion, Post 231, that specifically remember veterans.
Each year on Memorial Day, the Duncan-Showell branch of the Legion makes stops at five different churches in the area, saluting fallen veterans with from the community.
Then, they gather in Berlin to lead the parade down Flower Street.
On Sunday, before the rain, Post 231 held a join service for fallen veterans with the Boggs-Disharoon Post 123 in downtown Berlin, before traveling to the Williams A.M.E. Church in Newark.
Leading that group was Kenneth Morris, 65, who served in the United States Army during the Vietnam era and has been with the Legion for 35 years.
“During the service we have a part where we take over and the commander does a speech, and we read off all the deceased members of the post and of the community,” Morris said. “Right now we’re up to about a good 100 or better that we read off in church.
“Once they read off, the color guard does a salute and ‘Taps’ are played,” Morris added. “We try to get to each church in the community, and we’ve got about six churches that we attend to.”
Usually, the services include the Sons of the American Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary, as well as junior auxiliary members.
“Due to the weather, we only went to Williams for church service,” Morris said. “Normally, on Monday, our day starts at about 8 o’clock at the American Legion post. We do our ceremonies out there and we put the flags at half-mast. We’ve got one great, big flag that we always raise half-mast at the old Flower Street School by the multipurpose building.”
That flag once belonged to Joseph Purnell, Sr.
“He was a big, real name in Berlin. Everybody knows him,” Morris said. “They presented that flag to us and we fly that flag over there. It’s a real old flag, because that pole has been there ever since the school was there.”
After hanging the flag the Legion would then go to Pulletts Chapel, in Whaleyville, followed by Curtis Church in Selbyville, New Bethel Church in Germantown, Fooks Cemetery in Sinepuxent and St. Paul United Methodist Church in Berlin.
“Most of the time when we get to these cemeteries there’s a group always waiting for us to be there. It’s really honoring our veterans and our comrades,” Morris said. “We do that all from about 9 [a.m.] to about 10:30. After we get done with that we have to get back and lead the parade. It’s normally a very busy day on Monday.
“Memorial Day is honoring our fallen comrades. That’s what the main thing is all about, and so we try to make sure we get all these cemeteries done before we go to the parade,” he continued. “With the weather, we really couldn’t do anything.”
Still, the day of remembrance has become “so routine” for the Legion members that most showed up at the post by 8 a.m. on Monday.
“The weather never broke, so we had to call around and tell the folks that were waiting on us that we weren’t going to be there,” Morris said. “They understood our situation.”
Morris said the Legion members are hoping to get together at a later date and at least visit some of the sites they had planned to.
“That’s one of our main objectives – honoring our veterans on Memorial Day,” he said. “It’s really patriotic and it’s a day of mourning and remembrance. We start off [with names of those who served] in World War One, all the way through. We have lost a lot.
“All of our World War One’s are gone and our World War Two’s – I think we only have a bout four left,” Morris continued. “They were our backbone.”
In general, he said the Vietnam-era vets are the ones who organize and carry out the business of the Legion. Many of those men, however, are getting up there in age.
“We were looking at each other Sunday before our church service saying, ‘you know what? We’re the next in line for carrying on things around here.’ We’ve been doing that anyway, but we’ve got to get the younger ones to take over for us because we’re fading too,” Morris said. “We’re slowing down a little bit.
“I’d like for people to just sit down and remember the sacrifices that the veterans have done for their freedom,” he continued. “When you see a veteran, just go out and say ‘thanks for your service.’ That’s a big help. I’ve got a hat that I wear that says ‘United States Army veteran’ and I get a lot of handshakes and some hugs. That means a whole lot to a veteran.”
Each year on Memorial Day, the Duncan-Showell branch of the Legion makes stops at five different churches in the area, saluting fallen veterans with from the community.
Then, they gather in Berlin to lead the parade down Flower Street.
On Sunday, before the rain, Post 231 held a join service for fallen veterans with the Boggs-Disharoon Post 123 in downtown Berlin, before traveling to the Williams A.M.E. Church in Newark.
Leading that group was Kenneth Morris, 65, who served in the United States Army during the Vietnam era and has been with the Legion for 35 years.
“During the service we have a part where we take over and the commander does a speech, and we read off all the deceased members of the post and of the community,” Morris said. “Right now we’re up to about a good 100 or better that we read off in church.
“Once they read off, the color guard does a salute and ‘Taps’ are played,” Morris added. “We try to get to each church in the community, and we’ve got about six churches that we attend to.”
Usually, the services include the Sons of the American Legion and the Ladies Auxiliary, as well as junior auxiliary members.
“Due to the weather, we only went to Williams for church service,” Morris said. “Normally, on Monday, our day starts at about 8 o’clock at the American Legion post. We do our ceremonies out there and we put the flags at half-mast. We’ve got one great, big flag that we always raise half-mast at the old Flower Street School by the multipurpose building.”
That flag once belonged to Joseph Purnell, Sr.
“He was a big, real name in Berlin. Everybody knows him,” Morris said. “They presented that flag to us and we fly that flag over there. It’s a real old flag, because that pole has been there ever since the school was there.”
After hanging the flag the Legion would then go to Pulletts Chapel, in Whaleyville, followed by Curtis Church in Selbyville, New Bethel Church in Germantown, Fooks Cemetery in Sinepuxent and St. Paul United Methodist Church in Berlin.
“Most of the time when we get to these cemeteries there’s a group always waiting for us to be there. It’s really honoring our veterans and our comrades,” Morris said. “We do that all from about 9 [a.m.] to about 10:30. After we get done with that we have to get back and lead the parade. It’s normally a very busy day on Monday.
“Memorial Day is honoring our fallen comrades. That’s what the main thing is all about, and so we try to make sure we get all these cemeteries done before we go to the parade,” he continued. “With the weather, we really couldn’t do anything.”
Still, the day of remembrance has become “so routine” for the Legion members that most showed up at the post by 8 a.m. on Monday.
“The weather never broke, so we had to call around and tell the folks that were waiting on us that we weren’t going to be there,” Morris said. “They understood our situation.”
Morris said the Legion members are hoping to get together at a later date and at least visit some of the sites they had planned to.
“That’s one of our main objectives – honoring our veterans on Memorial Day,” he said. “It’s really patriotic and it’s a day of mourning and remembrance. We start off [with names of those who served] in World War One, all the way through. We have lost a lot.
“All of our World War One’s are gone and our World War Two’s – I think we only have a bout four left,” Morris continued. “They were our backbone.”
In general, he said the Vietnam-era vets are the ones who organize and carry out the business of the Legion. Many of those men, however, are getting up there in age.
“We were looking at each other Sunday before our church service saying, ‘you know what? We’re the next in line for carrying on things around here.’ We’ve been doing that anyway, but we’ve got to get the younger ones to take over for us because we’re fading too,” Morris said. “We’re slowing down a little bit.
“I’d like for people to just sit down and remember the sacrifices that the veterans have done for their freedom,” he continued. “When you see a veteran, just go out and say ‘thanks for your service.’ That’s a big help. I’ve got a hat that I wear that says ‘United States Army veteran’ and I get a lot of handshakes and some hugs. That means a whole lot to a veteran.”