Earlier today, Fred Rutledge – President of US Branch #25 – spent some time at Greenlawn Cemetery in Colma (one of the two cemeteries our branch helps to maintain).
Comrade Rutledge reports that it was a warm and breezy day, with hardly a soul in the cemetery. He put the Canadian, American, and Union Jacks flags up on the flagpole. There was one family that had placed Canadian and United Kingdom flags by their family’s markers, and another who had placed fresh flowers on the marker from another family.
Finally, the latest group of memorial name plaques for those who have passed recently, but are not buried at Greenlawn, were now on the central memorial.
This past Saturday, US Branch #25 of the Royal Canada Legion hosted its annual Memorial Day service at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma, CA. Below are some pictures and a video from the event, as well as the program for the service.
San Francisco Bay Area Branch 25 The Royal Canadian Legion
Memorial Day Service
Greenlawn Memorial Park – Colma, California
Saturday, 25 May 2019 – 11:00 am
Under the direction of Past President Dennis Edmondson
Order of Service
Welcome and Invocation Dennis Edmondson, Past President
Post Colors on the Flag Poles
National Anthems Presented
“O Canada!”
“The Star-Spangled Banner”
“God Save the Queen”
The Parade Salutes and Color Guard Present Arms
“In Memoriam” Siefken Krieger
“The Battle’s O’er” Piper
A Two-Minute Silence is Observed
Acting Chaplain Margaret Krieger
The Act of Remembrance
“They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”
Response from all:“We will remember them.”
“Flowers of the Forest” Piper
Placing of the Wreath
“O God Our Help in Ages Past” Cadet Choir
Acting Chaplain Margaret Krieger
Close and Response
Today we remember and pay our respects to those comrades
whose death we mourn, but whose spirit still lives.
May we strive to promote unity and the spirit of comradeship,
never forgetting the solemn obligation we have assumed as members
of the Royal Canadian Legion and remembering them, may we ever pray, Lord God of hosts be with us yet. Lest we forget Response from all: “Lest we forget.”
“Amazing Grace” PiperEnd of Service
O Canada!
O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all of us command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada! We stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada! We stand on guard for thee. O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.
The Star-Spangled Banner
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, o’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave – O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
God Save the Queen
God save our gracious Queen Long live our noble Queen God save our Queen! Send her victorious, Happy and Glorious, Long to reign over us; God save the Queen!
* * *
Cadet Choir, Color Guard and Grounds Preparation courtesy of The United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps Arkansas Division under the direction of LTJG Gabriel Mikulich, Commanding Officer and LTJG Vivian McBride, Executive Officer
Hal Wilkes, Piper
The flags are proud to decorate the graves Of heroes; catching every breeze that blows, They shout, significantly, truth that saves A world almost accustomed to it woes. They speak of boys with blood red as the rose, Who sacrificed young lives and happy dreams To learn a mystery nobody knows… To fly beyond familiar hills and streams.
The rose is proud to bloom upon the beds Of soldiers; every flower tries to press Toward sweet perfection. Lilies lift white heads In hallowed ground, and spill their loveliness Upon the sleeping heroes. We confess To obligations scarcely felt before. Shall we, the living, feel our sorrow less If we make peace our goal, and rule out war?
Our President is currently in Europe acting as a guide for a military history tour. On Thursday, they visited the American Cemetery in Luxembourg and held a wreath ceremony.
An item from the World War One Centennial Commission.
We’re getting close to putting a shovel in the ground for the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.
We started at $50 Million and we only have $13 Million to raise in order to get started this fall. That is tremendous progress, so I know that together we can do it.
Thanks for your friendship, interest and support with gifts, guidance, and commitment as we seek to remember those who, as our Chairman is fond of saying, “left their homes to fight in a war they didn’t start, in a land most had never visited, in the name of peace and liberty for people they didn’t know”.
Our Doughboys did it then.
You can help get this done now.
If you have given before, please consider another gift, large or small, in Memory of the Doughboys, on this special weekend when we remember those who sacrificed. Every dime goes to our Doughboys’ Memorial.
And if you have not donated to the National WWI Memorial in Washington – now is a really important time for you to join in the effort.
Whether you can give a gift right now or not, thank you for being part of the community that is remembering the significance and the sacrifice of our men, women and nation in WWI.
Best,
Daniel S. Dayton Executive Director U.S. World War One Centennial Commission
This Memorial Day, we hope you will take a moment with us to reflect on the reason the holiday was created: to honor those who gave their lives in service to our country and, ultimately, to all of us. There are many national parks where you can learn about military history and remember those who fought and died for our country.
Known or unknown, each soldier’s life or death was meaningful to someone. Many historians cite May 1, 1865, as the first Memorial Day, when 10,000 individuals, mostly freed men and women, held a ceremony to honor the dead Union soldiers in Charleston, South Carolina. More formal commemorations grew from these early gatherings in both the North and the South.
By the 1890s, Memorial Day was a noteworthy holiday across much of the country, and the tradition has continued through the passing decades. Commemorations today range from simple ceremonies to elaborate displays, like the annual Fredericksburg National Cemetery Illumination, where 15,000 candles are lighted — one candle in honor of every soldier buried within its walls.
We hope you are able to visit a national park and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country!
Sincerely,
Katherine Chesson
Vice President, Programs and Partnerships
