The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Memorial Day 2008
Memorial Day speaker: Freedoms 'often taken for granted'
By Edward Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 29, 2008
Chelsea's 2008 Memorial Day Parade and Memorial Service provided stirring oratory framed by some memorable moments.
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As usual, the annual parade wound its way from Middle, Main, Park and East streets before turning down Middle again and coming to a stop at the Soldier's Monument at Oak Grove Cemetery.
Units in the parade consisted of Chelsea police, the American Legion Color Guard, local veterans, Girl and Boy Scout troops of all ages, the Chelsea High School and Beach Middle School marching bands, and members of CANOPAS (Chelsea Area Network of Peace Activists and Supporters), a local anti-war group.
Jeff Guinnis, Commander of American Legion Post 31, presided over a memorial service that drew hundreds of spectators.
The Rev. Jeff Crowder gave the invocation, followed by the high school marching band playing patriotic selections.
In a moment whose timing seemed like a page out of a Hollywood script, a fighter jet made the traditional flyover just as the last strains of "America" faded.
Guinnis introduced guest speaker Chris Jeruzal, a U.S. Navy SEAL for 11 years who is now a Dearborn firefighter-paramedic.
"This is not a day of parades and ceremonies, it is a day of remembrance," Jeruzal said.
"There are 24 military cemeteries worldwide with 124,000 soldiers who did not come home. We pause from our busy lives to remember them.
"These heroes' sacrifice is just as important now as it has ever been," he continued.
"We owe it to ourselves and to those to come, to continue to fight for our way of life," Jeruzal implored the crowd.
"Take this moment to thank those veterans who are here today and those who are here in spirit. Their actions provided the freedoms that we so often take for granted.
"All any of us can do is offer the generations who come after us the same chance for freedom," he concluded.
In another picturesque and emotional moment, the breeze that had been quiet throughout most of the ceremony picked up again, unfurling all the flags to their fullest, while "Taps" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" played.
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