The federal holiday honoring U.S. military men and women falls on Wednesday, but Walkersville will celebrate its second Veterans Day ceremony three days early.Last year about 200 residents, dozens of veterans and the Yellow Springs Concert Band turned out at Memorial Park. Town Commissioner Donald Schildt is expecting another good turnout at 2 p.m. today.
"We've got two World War II vets, Durward Kettells and Bernie Murphy, who will be honored, and Eddie Lopez, a 26-year Navy veteran, will also be speaking," said Schildt, the lead organizer of the event.
Also participating, Schildt said, will be a local family with a son serving in the Middle East right now.
Last year, Sgt. James W. Cramer Jr., a 2001 Walkersville High School graduate who served tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and Sgt. Andre Dungan, who has lived in Walkersville for 10 years and did a one-year tour in Iraq in 2004, were guest speakers. Each received a commemorative U.S. flag that had previously flown over the Capitol building in Washington from Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's office -- as will the honored vets this year, Schildt said.
For 25 years, Walkersville held a Memorial Day service at the park, which the Veterans Day ceremony now replaces to avoid a conflict with Woodsboro 's annual Memorial Day parade.
Among the highlights of the event, expected to last 30 to 40 minutes, are awards to the first- and second-place winners of the Veterans Day essay contest.
Schildt said the town commissioners received some 140 essays from fourth- and fifth-graders at Glade Elementary School.
"The theme this year is 'What is a veteran?'" Schildt said. "I wish we could read all the essays. The kids really come up with some good things to think about."
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