WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) - For those staying in the area for Memorial Day weekend, a holiday tradition is being renewed at one of the city’s Civil War landmarks.
After more than 20 years, residents will again have the chance to honor the service of the soldiers buried in Winchester National Cemetery.
“These men gave their last full measure of devotion,” said Winchester resident Jean Woolsey, program coordinator and grandmaster of ceremonies for the memorial ceremony. “We hope people come and attend and honor these men.”
Woolsey said that as program coordinator of Ghost Tours Old Town Winchester, she has had the chance to really get to know the interred of the National Cemetery through her research - reading letters, journals and reports.
“(Their) struggles and times,” she said. “They’re on the front line of battle and they’re writing their wife. It’s very hard for it not to be personal.”
For that reason, she wanted to honor them with a ceremony. She contacted the National Cemetery Association about again holding events on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
The ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Monday at Winchester National Cemetery, 401 National Ave.
According to Willie Davis, a Fauquier County resident who is a Marine Corps veteran and employee of the National Cemetery Association, the first soldier was buried in the cemetery during the Civil War in 1862.
The Winchester location became a part of the National Cemetery Association in 1866.
“(The cemetery has soldiers) from the Civil War to the Afghanistan war,” Davis said.
It is home to more than 2,000 unknown Union soldiers, he added.
According to Davis and Woolsey, it’s unknown why the cemetery stopped holding Memorial Day ceremonies. However, since most National Cemetery locations hold them, it’s time this one did as well.
“The Third Battle of Winchester swept through here,” Woolsey said. “It is a historic landmark and Willie and I wanted to bring the program back again.”
The ceremony will include a medley of patriotic songs by the Millbrook High School band; a bagpipes performance by James Powell, a member of the City of Winchester Pipes and Drums; a three-volley salute by the Randolph-Macon Academy Honor Guard; a wreath-laying by representatives of the five military branches; and a memorial balloon release.
There will also be a keynote speech by Robert T. Morris, program analyst for the National Cemetery Association.
Woolsey said that she and Davis plan to make this an annual event. Whether the ceremony has two or 200 attendees, she said, they will continue to hold ceremonies for Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Winchester National Cemetery is far from the only location in the area holding Memorial Day ceremonies.
Others include:
Clarke County Memorial Day service at 2 p.m. Sunday in Rose Hill Park at 95 Chalmers Court, Berryville.
St. John’s Lutheran Church annual memorial service at 3 p.m. Sunday at 3623 Back Mountain Road, in Frederick County.
Veterans Council Memorial Day service at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Shenandoah Memorial Park at 1270 Front Royal Pike, in Frederick County.
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Information from: The Winchester Star, https://www.winchesterstar.com
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