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Alpena Memorial Day ceremony begins at Little Flanders Field

ALPENA — Community members will gather Monday during events to remember military members who have lost their lives while serving their country. The memorial services will begin at the Alpena County Courthouse and conclude at Little Flanders Field.

There will be a ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. outside Alpena County Courthouse where the Alpena High School marching band will play the Star Spangled Banner and guest speaker Jim Markowski will give a short speech. Flowers will be place on the memorial at city hall and then there will be a parade to Little Flanders Field with a brief stop on the banks of the Thunder Bay River to honor soldiers who died at sea, with a bouquet of flowers tossed in the water.

A memorial ceremony will be begin at 11 a.m. at Little Flanders Field.

Alpena Veteran’s Council President Wayne Trapp said Little Flanders Field was established after World War I and each white cross represents a local soldier who died while serving in the military. As other wars were fought and more soldiers died, additional crosses were added. Today there are 167 crosses that span from the Civil War to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There also are memorials to honor prisoners of war, those missing in action and victims of Agent Orange.

“This is a time for those to honor and remember those who have fallen and Little Flanders was established to do that,” Trapp said. “The Memorial Day event takes it one step further.”

Once at Little Flanders Field, Bill Romstadt will lead a prayer and Victoria Mott will sing the national anthem before guest speaker Bryan Strong speaks. Wreaths will be placed in front of the rows of crosses. The traditional rifle salute will follow and then Richard Raquenpaw will play Taps.

Trapp said he hopes there will be a good crowd at the ceremony and he has noticed over the last several years that participation in events that honor the fallen and those who have served has been on the increase. He said there are more people who take time out of their busy lives to salute and thank them.

“The honoring of soldiers has actually increased, I think, but maybe there are still not as many people who do it as there should be,” Trapp said. “Now we can be out on the street and people will come up and say ‘thanks for your service,’ and that wasn’t the case very long ago.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.

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