(By Regina Lorenz, Osmond Republican) OSMOND — The weather for the Memorial Day program on Monday, May 25, was near perfect, with warm and windy conditions to greet those attending the 10 a.m. program.
The program began with American Legion Post 326 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7838 and their auxiliaries, along with the Sons of The American Legion (SAL) Squadron 326, presenting the Colors, marching in to the processional played by the Osmond High School band. After the Salute to the Flag and the “NationalAnthem,” accompanied by the Osmond High School band, Rev. Terry Makelingave the invocation.
American Legion Commander Roger Johnson then introduced the speaker for the day, Sgt. Sandra Bernt.
Bernt, who lives in Wayne, enlisted in the Nebraska National Guard in 2000 and served in the military police. She spoke about the service men and women who sacrificed their lives for their country.
In particular, she spoke about Inez Crittenden and Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter.
During World War I, Crittenden served in the Army Signal Corps, the branch responsible for military communications. She was one of the 223 so-called “Hello Girls,” switchboard operators who ran the switchboards on the Western Front. She died of pneumonia on the day the Armistice was signed. Though the Hello Girls wore uniforms and faced combat conditions, they weren’t recognized as veterans until the 1970s.
Yale and Haerter were two Marines who fought during the war with Iran. On April 22, 2008, two Marine battalions were switching a position in Ramadi when a truck bomb exploded. It took 6 seconds for them to do their duty and save lives. They stood and fired knowing their fate. They were both awarded Navy crosses.
Bernt reminded the audience that every comfort in life, and the simple joy of gathering with family, was bought at a price we can never fully repay.
She said, “We honor them when we look past our differences, when we serve our communities, and when we protect the democratic ideals they died to defend. Let us leave here resolved to live lives that are truly worthy of their great sacrifice."
After Bernt’s speech, the Osmond High School band performed “For Our Heroes.”
After the song, Girls’ State Representative Ashlyn Spangler read “I Stand For Freedom.” Alexa Aschoff, the Girls State alternate and Junior Legion Auxiliary member, read “Dear Mother” and “Only A Paper Poppy.” “Dear Mother” was written by soldier Percy Hingst to his mother. Percy was the father of Linda Alford, a Legion Auxiliary Unit 326 member.
Ava Severson, the grade 11-12 winner of the Americanism Essay Contest, read her essay, “Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday and the Veterans Who Fought For Our Freedom.”
The Osmond junior/senior high choir then sang “A Patriotic Salute.”
The roll call of departed Legion MEMORIAL DAY SPEAKER TELLS OF SERVICE MEMBERS and Auxiliary members was read by Past Commander Dave Kruse while junior Auxiliary members Elliot Kumm, Evynn Kumm, Peyton Aschoff and Alexa Aschoff dropped poppies into a helmet on a platform with a white cross.
To conclude the indoor portion of the program, the audience sang “America, The Beautiful,” accompanied by the OHS band, and Rev. Makelin gave the benediction. The Osmond High School band then played the recessional as everyone prepared to head outside to the lawn on the east side of the school, where a mock cemetery was set up with the names of all of the departed Legion and Auxiliary members.
As the audience stood on the school parking lot and the east lawn, Junior Legion Auxiliary member Korrine Moes placed a wreath on the cross of the Unknown, and a firing salute was followed by the playing of “Echo Taps” by Donovan Heiman and Emmett Hoffman.
