Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WASHAKIE COUNTY — The American Legion Post 44 will again be observing Memorial Day, this Monday, with ceremonies in Worland and Ten Sleep. There ceremonies will be similar to those in years past, with once exception, social distancing will be observed due to COVID-19 concerns.
Memorial Day is a national holiday set aside each year on the last Monday in May for all Americans to honor those military servicemen and women who have fallen in battle – the country’s war dead. To honor all the veterans in the Worland and Ten Sleep cemeteries, Post 44 Legionnaires and family members place flags on the graves of all veterans lying at rest there.
The ceremonies will start at Riverview Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Worland at 11 a.m. and at the Ten Sleep Cemetery at 2:30 p.m. Chairs will be placed six feet apart to comply with social distancing. People from the same household may sit closer together.
The ceremonies will begin with opening remarks by American Legion Post 44 Commander Ryan Decker. Worland Mayor Jim Gill will give a welcoming to those in attendance. American Legion Post 44 Chaplain Frank Ley will be giving both the Invocation and Benediction. Local youth will read the poems of “In Flanders Field” and “Reply to In Flanders Field.”
The main speaker this year is Val Burgess of Sheridan. She will be talking about stories of World War II prisoners of war. She has done extensive research in this field.
The services will close with the American Legion Post 44 Honor Guard firing a three-shot volley to honor the dead. Post 44 Bugler Sal Fabela will close the ceremonies with the bugle call ‘Taps’.
After the Worland Ceremony, the Worland VFW Auxiliary 3093 will be hosting a luncheon at the Legion Post Home at 129 S. Seventh Street, with an invitation to all to attend the luncheon by Post Commander Decker. Social distancing will be observed at the luncheon also.