WS Chronicle

In photo above: The veterans who were honored stand together during Sunday’s service at Emmanuel Baptist Church. (Submitted Photo)

By Felecia Piggott-Long, Ph.D.
For The Chronicle

For many people, the Memorial Day Weekend is a three-day holiday that marks the unofficial beginning of summer. On Sunday, May 24, Emmanuel Baptist Church invited those who participated in the armed forces to be recognized at the front of the church for protecting and serving the United States. The call to worship for this day included, “The promise of God is for a great nation, untold blessings and a great nation.”

Veterans from the Army, the Air Force, Marines, Navy and the Army National Guard came forward.

They were Howard C. Coleman, Vietnam War, Air Force; Louis Carey, Iraq/Desert Storm; Jerry Dodd, Vietnam War, Army; Oscar Dunlap, Vietnam War, Marines; Darryl Prince, Vietnam War, Army; Willie Torbit, Navy; John Smith, Army; Richard Dixon, Korean War, Army; Jerry Hinson, Vietnam War, Army; Inez Blake, Army; Cornelius Sadler, Vietnam War, Army; Jimmy Boyd, Vietnam War, Army; Will Pledger, Desert Storm, Navy; Cleotus Pauling, Korean War, Army; John Howell, USSForrestal CVA59, Navy; Hobart Jones, Vietnam War, Army (Member of NABVETS for processing claims); Hessie Smith Jr.,Vietnam War, Army; Jeffrey Calvin, Gulf War, Army; Jeffery Oliver, Army National Guard.

Memorial Day has been an official holiday for over 40 years. The purpose of the observance is to remember those who served in the armed forces. The history of the day, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs, harks back to the end of the Civil War, when May 30 was established as “Decoration Day,” a day to decorate the graves of the veterans. In 1971, Memorial Day was dedicated as a national holiday, placed on the last Monday in May to honor the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice in protecting and serving this country, as well as those who continue to do so today.