In person and on the web, local Memorial Day services honor fallen warriors' sacrifices

Social distancing held in-person attendance at Monday morning’s Sutersville Memorial Day service to little more than 20.

But others were able to pay their respects to the town’s service members, past and present, from afar by viewing a livestream of the annual ceremony at the honor roll next to the Moose lodge.

Andy Swinnen, who was watching from the Netherlands, took to social media after the ceremony to thank organizers “for letting me be a part of this remembrance today.”

As main speaker Mark Ghion read the names and service records of 14 local men who were killed in action, Swinnen paid particular attention to the ultimate sacrifice of William “Harry” Green. The B-17 navigator’s plane was shot down during a November 1944 bombing mission over Germany.

The final resting place for Green and his crew isn’t known for certain, but Swinnen’s family places a Memorial Day wreath below a European wall honoring them and other missing World War II servicemen while also “putting flowers at it twice a month.”

Ghion, who is Sutersville’s fire chief and served four years as a paratrooper in the 1980s, has reached out to people like Swinnen and to surviving family members to research the histories of Green and the 13 other local men who died while in uniform — four during World War I, nine during World War II and one during the Korean War.

“It’s been a journey of uncovering obscure facts,” Ghion said. “It’s an effort to try to establish a permanent memorial to these guys, so when I’m gone, they won’t be forgotten.”

The names of those killed in action are located near the top of the honor roll that lists all local residents who served in the two World Wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

“They’re more than just names,” Ghion said. “They represent people with various life experiences. Unfortunately, their lives were cut short. That sacrifice deserves to be remembered.”

Monday’s service was organized by the fire department and the borough’s special events committee, with many other organizations placing wreaths at the honor roll ahead of time, to maintain social distancing during the covid-19 pandemic.

Referring to the pandemic-related business and social restrictions from which the area is starting to emerge, Mayor Alaina Breakiron said, “For the last few weeks, most of us felt what it is like to sacrifice for the greater good. But it still pales in comparison to what our fallen military men and women have sacrificed.”

The need to preserve the local veterans’ stories was driven home with the 2018 death of Ghion’s father, Alvin, the last surviving World War II veteran listed on the honor roll.

“We’re slowly losing that living link to the past,” Ghion said.

He’s hoping to work with the borough to create a memorial to local Civil War veterans who were the founders of Sutersville, in about 1870. He’d also like to rename town streets for the 14 men killed in action.

“It would be a daily reminder of their sacrifice, rather than once a year,” he said.

While forgoing a traditional Memorial Day parade in Export, members of the White Valley AMVETS on Monday made their traditional visits to several area cemeteries and military memorials. Because of pandemic health guidelines, ceremonies were abbreviated and those attending were asked to practice social distancing.

Still, a morning cemetery observance at Emmanuel Reformed United Church of Christ (Hills Church) in Murrysville drew a crowd of more than 100 and included a gun salute and a wreath-laying ceremony.

“This has been a long tradition,” the Rev. Joseph Hedden Jr., the church’s pastor, said of the Memorial Day service. “If there’s anything I can count on to bring out a large group of people, this would be one of the main events through the year.”

“It’s nice that we can gather together, even if we have to wear masks or do social distancing,” said Ben Hollerman, 16, of Murrysville, one of about 15 members of local Boy Scouts Troop 205 who participated in two of the services conducted by the AMVETS.

“We enjoy coming out here,” he said. “It’s part of the Scouts to do your duty to your country.”