Sisters honors the fallen on Memorial Day

A calm and cool morning greeted the crowd that gathered to honor the American fallen in the 139th observance of this national day of remembrance.

The day originally was set aside as a day of remembrance for the Union Soldiers who had died during the Civil War. It later grew to encompass all fallen American soldiers from all conflicts.

All stood and hats were removed for the pure vocal of the National Anthem by Rebecca Murphy of Prineville. The pledge of allegiance was recited, and then the invocation was given by Pastor Ed Beacham. During his invocation he reminded the gathering that as of the May 26, there were 1,277,673 Americans that have fallen in the defense of their country since the Revolutionary War.

The speaker for the event was Sisters resident Senior Chief Phillip Gale who retired from the Navy five years ago.

"This is my fifth time here at a Memorial Day service in Sisters, and this time I get to speak," said Gale.

"I really want people to come away from today remembering that today is for those who have died. It is great to remember those that are still alive - it is nice to remember them too - but ultimately they need to leave here today with the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country," said Chief Gale.

The laying of the wreaths was done by Irene Peck and Doug Cole, with R.O.T.C. providing support to the dignified event. Master Chief Donnie Jackson, who is also retired from the Navy, came from Prineville with the Crook County Junior R.O.T.C., which assisted with the day's ceremony.

"I come every year and brought over the patriotic performers of the R.O.T.C. program," said Chief Jackson.

There are 87 students enrolled in the junior R.O.T.C. program in Crook County which has one of the largest junior programs in the state.

"Out of the 87, I have 22 that are actually in the patriotic performers team, and we travel all over the state doing our show," said Chief Jackson.

As the patriotic performers began to work their way through the ceremonies, Chief Jackson commented: "There are 14 here today, and I am really proud of them. They are absolutely awesome."

There was a flyover by a lovingly restored navy biplane which was often referred to as the "yellow peril" by those who were familiar with it. The biplane was an N3N, and it was the last model of biplane to be used by the military. It was painted bright yellow and used as a trainer during the initial part of World War II, which was the origin of thenickname.

Sadly, this year's ceremony may be the last Memorial Day remembrance organized by the Sisters VFW.

"I don't know how many more of these there will be. We are thinking about dissolving the post and merging with the Bend VFW post. There are just not that many of us any more and not many people participate," said John Lovgren of the Sisters VFW post.

As the event drew to a close, Chief Jackson commented: "We have a tendency to forget who we are and where we came from. We hope that the patriotic performers can help to remind us of that. But the most important thing we do is to say thank you."