My small town has a ceremony every year at the local Masonic Lodge for veterans day and memorial day. The local JROTC color guard comes and presents the colors, and they help out with logistics before and after the event. For the veterans day, the high school band plays a few songs, they have a guest speaker (also present during memorial day) and talk about patriotism. During the event, for memorial day, they read off the list of all the fallen military members from my small town in every major conflict throughout history. It is staggering to hear all the names of the fallen. It is great to see such a small town like I live in be patriotic and come together to remember all our veterans during these two events. Thank you everyone for your service.
So good to hear this! It's a little embarrassing that it feels like a big thing when a town is actually still patriotic, but what a good feeling it is! I live in a small town, too... we still have the parades for patriotic holidays, and the decoration of veteran graves in cemeteries. Nothing like it was when I was a little girl, but thank goodness there's enough of it left to remind people that it's still the land of the free. Oh, and there's a cemetery close enough to me that I can always hear the 21-gun salute for the patriotic holidays and veteran burials.
I think that's fantastic and more than well worth doing. I think the connection it may build between a young person in the community and the people that have put so much on the line before them may help build a bond between them and their neighbors, family, etc.
