Storm clouds gathered overhead as a small crowd filtered through the gates and into the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Sunday, for the 100th Pleasant Valley Community Memorial Observance.
Members of the William F. Myers and Sons Band scurried to set up for the 2 p.m. celebration, while the Pleasant Valley 4-H Club led the parade of church and community members up the steep hill. They were there to honor Armed Forces members from the community who have served our nation.
Patricia Desautels said she’s attended this celebration since her husband passed away in 2005.
“He was a veteran who served in the last part of the Korean War,” Desautels said of her husband. “My brothers served too. My oldest brother spent four tours in Vietnam [with the Air Force] and my other brother was a Marine. Without all of our vets, where would the United States be? It means a lot.”
Before the parade got to the cemetery, the clouds opened up, but the band continued to play. While umbrellas popped open and water dripped from the bell of the sousaphone, walkers poured into the cemetery. That’s when organizer Angela Bowersox passed word that the celebration was being moved to the Pleasant Valley fire company.
Arrabelle Frock, dressed in 1800s garb and with her husband in his Army uniform, moved toward their car.
“We’ve been married 61 years and we’ve been coming every year,” she said. “Our veterans are important,” she said. “They save our country.”
Her husband, Army veteran, Daniel Frock agreed. “It’s very important to remember other people who sacrificed for your freedom,” he said.
Bowersox said no one knows for sure when the first Memorial Day celebration was held in Pleasant Valley, but documentation takes it back at least 100 years. To celebrate those years, attendees were invited to wear period garb.
Twenty-five-year-old singer, Phyllis McKenzie came to sing forthe program. She was dressed as Rosie the Riveter.
“I think Rosie is empowering to women,” she said. “They were holding down the fort here at home while the men were fighting for our freedom. That’s important, too.”
Inside the fire hall, speaker, Charles E. Harrison moved the audience when he spoke of the divide in our nation today, and areminded all that “Today is a new day.”
Harrison garnered many years during his years as a helicopter pilot in the army, including the bronze star. His next career as an FBI agent lasted 28 years, but this ambitious leader jumped from the FBI to the CIA where he was a Unit Chief manager for the International Organized Crime program. He’s held numerous leadership positions including President of the Carroll County chapter of NAACP Branch and Judge of the Orphans' Court for Carroll County. Currently, he’s a board member forThe Shepherd’s Staff and board chairperson for the Carroll Media Center.
“Yesterday, I was at the ceremony at the Ellsworth Cemetery,” he said, referencing the Westminster graveyard that was founded in 1876 by six black Union Army veterans looking for a place to bury African-American veterans because they were not allowed in city cemeteries.
Harrison continued.
“One of the buffalo soldiers there said, ‘These folks will not die until we stop calling their names. They will not die until we stop memorializing them.’ I am glad we are here today to honor andmemorialize them,” Harrison said. “One way for us to do that is for us, as Americans and Carroll county citizens, to rededicate ourselves to keeping America strong and to live up to our creed. A house divided unto itself cannot stand.”
Harrison then shared a slice of his life as an Army pilot in the Vietnam War.
“In Vietnam I had to rely on a white co-pilot to make the calls while I set that helicopter down. I had to rely on that young Jewish gunner to keep firing at those people who were coming to try to get us. I also had to rely on that Hispanic crew chief to let me know why this machine was failing. You have to rely on others,” he said. “Our heroes, our veterans can best be served when we participate in what I call the healing process. We cannot start that process until we start to speak up and speak out in an attempt to heal. If we don’t do that, the silence that we hear will become deafening.”
After the ceremony there were refreshments. Mavis Starner, ofSt. Mark’s United Church of Christ, shared her year-long research on the veterans buried inside the Pleasant Valley Cemetery.
“My brother, Melvin is head of the cemetery board. He got me a list of the veterans buried here. There’s one guy here who served in three wars,” she said. “We have five Civil War veterans and one unique guy who supposedly served with Napoleon.”
Those who attended were treated to a display of historical information inside the hall, including books, photos, vintage uniforms and more.
Kay Sedlak attended the Memorial Day celebration with her daughter, Jennifer Sedlak Russell and her daughter-in-law, Melissa Sedlak
“I’ve lived in the area for 41 years,” she said. “My husband is buried in the cemetery. He was in the Coast Guard and passed away in 2016. He was the son of a career military and he always made sure his children observed Memorial Day.”
Melissa Sedlak said she was 16 when her father passed away.
“He was in WWII,” she said. “He served in the Philippines.” She pushed away tears and then continued. “[He earned a] purple heart and the medal of honor, he lost his leg, and he suffered from PTSD most of my childhood. I always feel he is here. This reminds me, even though you never forget.”
All three ladies were silent a moment, and then Kay Sedlak spoke again.
“We need to honor the sacrifice they made, interrupting their lives to serve the country,” she said. “We never want to forget.”
