Photos courtesy of Bob Spano
The Marple Newtown community has a long history of honoring and remembering our servicemen and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. From decorating area gravesites to marching down West Chester Pike, we pause to pay tribute to our deceased military and their families.
Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, is a federal holiday observed every year on the last Monday of May. It originally began as a way to honor our soldiers who died in the Civil War, with the first national celebration taking place on May 30, 1868. After World War I, the holiday was expanded to honor all American war fatalities.
Decoration Day was recognized as a federal holiday in 1938. By the end of World War II, the holiday was more commonly referred to as Memorial Day, and the federal government officially adopted that holiday name in 1967. The following year, the passing of the Uniform Holidays Bill declared that Memorial Day would be celebrated on the last Monday in May regardless of the date.
Throughout the United States and in local communities, it’s common to visit cemeteries and decorate the graves of our deceased soldiers with flowers, wreaths and American flags. Other common traditions include raising the United States flag quickly to the top of flagpoles, lowering it slowly to half-mast to honor our fallen soldiers, then raising it again to full height at noon, as a symbol of the commitment of the living to carry on our fight for freedom.
The tradition of wearing or displaying red poppies to remember our military grew out of the famous poem “In Flanders Fields,” written during World War I by Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. Below is the poem’s first verse.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
If you’d like to honor and remember our fallen military this Memorial Day, there are some local events you can attend and places to visit.
On Monday May 30th, the Delaware County Veterans Memorial Association (DCVMA) will hold a short ceremony and wreath-laying at the Delaware County Veterans Memorial located at 4599 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square. The ceremony begins at 8:30am. In addition, if you would like to memorialize and celebrate the life and legacy of your veteran, DCVMA performs casket flag ceremonies at 5pm on the second Sunday of every month from April through November.
The Marple Newtown Memorial Day Parade will take place on Memorial Day, Monday May 30th at 10am. The parade route starts at the intersection of Malin Rd and West Chester Pike.
Then it travels eastbound on West Chester Pike to the American Legion Post 805. “After a two-year hiatus, we want to make the parade as joyful as possible,” said Demetrius Spiropoulos, First Vice Commander of the American Legion Post 805. “It’s a great way to connect with the community.”
Local veterans will lead the parade along with the Broomall Fire Company, Police, EMS and Army vehicles. Spectators will enjoy performances by the Paxon Hollow Middle School and Marple Newtown High School Tiger Marching Bands, local Boy Scout troops and other local performers. Leading the parade in a police car will be US Army Veteran Brad Bitting, who was wounded three times and received two Congressional Medals of Honor for heroic deeds when he served in the Persian Gulf. The parade’s closing ceremony, which will be held at Post 805 and will include a rifle ceremony, will be led by Post Commander Gerald Nail.