The stillness of the morning was echoed by the quietness of the crowd gathered for the annual Memorial Day service at Maple Leaf Cemetery in Oak Harbor Monday.

Approximately 100 people attended the traditional service, which was hosted this year by American Legion George Morris Post 129, but featured participants from throughout the community, both military and civilian.

Hundreds of American flags dotted the cemetery in honor of veterans, setting the scene for a patriotic remembrance, which began with the presentation of colors by members of Oak Harbor High School’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, and an invocation by Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Chaplain Philip King.

Oak Harbor Mayor Jim Slowik addressed the crowd, making note of why the flag is raised, then lowered to half staff for the first part of the day.

“The flag is lowered to half staff in the morning to honor and remember the men and women of the military, members of the police force and firefighters who have given their lives,” he said. “At noon, the flag is raised as a promise to never forget the contributions made by those who fight for our freedom and liberty.”

In addition to honoring those who died in military service, Slowik also had praise for their families.

“Service to our country is a family commitment. You, too, have sacrificed for the good of our country,” he said.

Master of ceremonies for the day, Lenord Little, post commander of Oak Harbor’s American Legion, said this Memorial Day marked the end of an era in our nation’s history.

“Army Cpl. Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last “Doughboy” from World War I, was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on March 15, 2011,” said Little.
“We will assure our departed veterans are not forgotten,” he continued.

And while the focus of services at Oak Harbor’s Maple Leaf Cemetery and Sunnyside cemetery in Coupeville on Monday was to honor those who have gone before us, those who carry on the fight for freedom today were also acknowledged.

“Courageous heroes have written our history and present day soldiers, sailors and marines continue in their footsteps,” said NAS Whidbey executive officer Cmdr. Chris Phillips. “We honor them, we praise them and we remember them.

Today the battlefield is different, the weapons have significantly changed, but the fight is still the same.”

Also paying homage to fallen comrades were members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Outgoing commander of Whitehead-Muzzall Post 7392 in Oak Harbor,

Pete Sill, opened his remarks by mentioning a new fallen veteran, 21-year-old Adam Patton of Port Orchard, who was one of six members of the Army’s 101st Airborn Division killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on May 26. Sill called it a sad reminder of why they were gathered.

One by one, members of the VFW, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, the American Legion and the local Fleet Reserve laid memorials on the grave. President of the Fleet Reserve Association of Whidbey Island, Louis Bellavance, read the two-bell ceremony as the bell tolled.

“The toll of the ship’s bell reminds us of the reverence we owe to our departed shipmates and to those who guard the honor of our country — upon the sea, in the air and on foreign soil,” read Bellavance. “Let it be a reminder of the faith they confide in us. Let us who gather here not forget our obligations, and in silence, breathe a prayer for our absent shipmates … This moment of reverence we dedicate to the memory of our shipmates who have gone before us.”

A three-volley salute by members of the NAS Whidbey Honor Guard, a performance of “Taps,” by American Legion member Donald Blackburn and a benediction by Chaplain King brought the Memorial Day services at both cemeteries to an end.

But even with the ceremony at an end, Cmdr. Phillips’ words linger.

“Our greatest asset is, and will continue to be, our men and women in uniform,” he said. “This Memorial Day and every day may we never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice … May we never fail to live up to their standard and never falter in our fight to preserve freedom at home and abroad.”