One event that I look forward to attending each year is the Memorial Day Observance at Green Hills Memorial Park.  The event has extraordinary speakers, color guard presentations, skydivers, patriotic music and flyovers.  Jennifer Olvera, Events Coordinator and Customer Relations Manager, for Green Hills has organized and implemented these inspiring events for years.  

When I learned that the Vietnam Moving Wall was going to be at Green Hills over the Memorial Day weekend, I contacted Jennifer to see if I could visit to do an Out and About article.  The Vietnam Moving Wall travels all around the country, and it is a half-sized replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  It includes the names of more than 58,000 servicemen and women who gave their lives in service during the Vietnam War. This past weekend, visitors had an opportunity to view the wall.

Due to Covid guidelines and protocols, this year’s Green Hills Memorial Park’s 35th Annual Memorial Day Observance was smaller than normal, but it was nonetheless filled with inspiring words and music.  The Air National Guard Band of the West performed several instrumentals.  Tom Lasser, Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army retired, provided the keynote address.  Lasser encouraged attendees to foster a patriotic image and to remember that veterans are the fabric of this country.  

Olvera acknowledged the Vietnam Veterans from Chapter 53, a nurse who served during the Vietnam War and volunteers from the Boy Scouts of America who put flags at the Green Hills gravesites of those who were identified as veterans.

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. 

It is so important to memorialize the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Thank you, Green Hills Memorial Park, for providing us a way in which to pay tribute each year.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This