Different yet powerful
It was a Memorial Day observance like no other, but even though the crowd was limited, the message in these times was still powerful.
“Everyone of these graves has a story,” Marine Corps veteran Clark Budweg said during the “Sacred Duty” program he and Katie Boehmer presented. “We owe these men and women for our freedoms, for their sacrifices.”
Budweg made his comments to an almost-empty Chickasaw County Veterans Memorial Monday morning. Technically, the program was closed to the public because of concerns about the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.
Yet, dozens of residents turned out. Some — like 91-year-old veteran Ben Ryan — got out of their vehicles, practiced social distancing and stood on Prospect Street, Locust Avenue or Chestnut Avenue. Some stayed in their cars and rolled down their windows.
— For more on this story, see the May 26 Tribune