The city of Urbana and villages of Champaign County joined the nation in observing Memorial Day.
Terre Haute in Mad River Township continued the tradition of starting the annual ceremonies by holding its parade and observation on Sunday. State Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Urbana) was the keynote speaker in Terre Haute Cemetery.
Urbana, St. Paris, Mechanicsburg, North Lewisburg, Woodstock, Christiansburg and West Liberty held their observances on Monday.
Dan Walter of the Champaign County Historical Society gave the keynote address at Soldiers’ Mound in Urbana’s Oak Dale Cemetery on Monday morning. Local pilot Jim White provided a fly-over salute during the observation.
Lt. Col. Eric P. Slover, the Military Science Department Chair and Raider Detachment Commander at Wright State University, delivered the keynote speech at the St. Paris Memorial Day ceremony in Evergreen Cemetery on Monday. The observance began in Harmon Park and the parade proceeded to the cemetery.
National observance
In Arlington, Virginia, Vice President Mike Pence paid tribute to fallen members of the U.S. Armed Forces, thanking their loved ones in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and acknowledging that for them “every day is Memorial Day.”
Pence placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to remember dead service members whose remains haven’t been identified and observed a moment of silence. He told Gold Star families he was honored by their presence.
Dignitaries attending Monday’s ceremony included Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. and acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan.
President Donald Trump and Melania Trump visited the Arlington, Virginia, cemetery last week and placed flags at several gravesites, a decades-old tradition known as “flags in.” Trump is in Japan, where he addressed troops aboard a U.S. battleship.
