By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
About 75 people gathered in the NRHEG secondary gym the morning of Monday, May 29 to take part in a Memorial Day ceremony sponsored by the New Richland American Legion.
Speaker Kelly Delacruz told the crowd that history is peppered with “days that will never be forgotten” for their tragedy and their impact. Even remembering such days, she said, “seems to suck the oxygen out of our chests.”
She shared her experience of being newly enlisted in the military during 9-11 22 years ago and remembered the loss of a childhood friend who, having enlisted at about the same time she did, was later killed in an explosion in Iraq.
“Today I remember Ssgt Jacob Thompson,” she said. “With a heavy heart I thank him and all others for their sacrifice. They are not forgotten.”
The high school band and choir performed “America the Beautiful,” “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” and the national anthem. Band director Colin Zidlicky played Taps on the bugle.
High school seniors Sidney Schultz and Ethan Thompson read, respectively, “In Flanders Field” and the Gettysburg Address.
Members of the band and choir had also accompanied representatives of the American Legion to five area cemeteries earlier in the day, where service members buried at each were honored and those who had died within the past year were named. Cemeteries included Calvary, St. Peter, St. Olaf, LeSueur, and Vista Lutheran and Vista Covenant.
After the 11 a.m. ceremony, the legion sponsored a meal served in the high school commons.