News photo by Reagan Voetberg Veterans salute during the singing of the national anthem at the Memorial Day ceremony in front of the Alpena County Courthouse on Monday.

ALPENA — On Monday, community members and veterans from across Alpena gathered to remember American soldiers fallen in battle.

The ceremony began at the Alpena County Courthouse with the laying of roses on the memorial for each war the U.S. has been involved in.

“We gather this Memorial Day as a nation solemnly united in remembrance of the fallen defenders of our Great Nation,” a speaker said at the courthouse ceremony. “Freedom is not free. It has come to a great cost.”

All gathered sang the national anthem before the roses were placed one by one on each stone indicating the different wars. The white roses represent the purity of the veterans’ intentions, their innocence lost, and the remembrance of their sacrifice.

After the flowers were laid, the parade commenced down 9th Avenue. Veterans, Agent Orange Riders, Girls Scouts, Scouts, and more traveled to the river on Washington Avenue where a wreath was laid in the water by Scouts Anna Leddy and Matthew Burns in commemoration of soldiers lost at sea.

The parade continued on to Little Flanders Field for the main ceremony of the day. Captain Cade MacArthur of the Michigan Air National Guard was the guest speaker at this year’s event.

Prior to MacArthur’s speech, the master of ceremonies gave a short speech about Little Flanders Field.

“It’s a great representation of the loss of life of the patriotic part of Alpena, and it’s something we should take pride in,” he said. “I would offer it’s hard for anybody to find another city of similar size that could represent 160 graves over 8 conflicts and be a similar size city and town.”

MacArthur spoke about the origin of Memorial Day.

“Memorial day is not born out of a desire for a long weekend or the unofficial start of summer,” he said. “It was born from profound national grief.”

MacArthur said that Memorial Day was established in 1868 after the American Civil War. It was originally called Decoration Day and designated for the strewing of flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of the U.S. The founder, General John Logan, chose the end of May because it was a time when flowers were beginning to bloom across the entire nation.

Memorial Day came to represent not just those who died in the Civil War, but for those who died in all American wars.

“We must also recognize that Memorial Day is not just an acknowledgment of the past,” MacArthur said. “It is a profoundly personal, living reality, for many standing among us today. For the veterans who have returned from combat, this is often the heaviest day of the year. You came home, but you left your brothers and sisters behind. In the mountains of Afghanistan, in the streets of Iraq, in the jungles of Vietnam. For those who wore the uniform and watched their friends make the ultimate sacrifice, today is a sacred day.”

“Let us honor those who gave everything by being good neighbors, by serving our community, and by fiercely protecting the liberties they died for,” MacArthur said.

At the conclusion of the speech, the Alpena High School choral group sang “God Bless America,” and then community members and veterans placed a wreath in honor of those that died in American wars, as well as wreaths for those missing in action and those affected by Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.

The ceremony concluded with the choral group singing “America the Beautiful” and a benediction from chaplain Bill Rayment.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.