First the programs ran out.
Then all the parking spaces filled.
And finally, folks ran out of places to sit but seemed content lining the walls.
On a rainy Memorial Day that forced a change of venue, an estimated 350 people — a record with no rival in Leelanau County — stood, clapped and weeped their way through a nearly 90-minute ceremony held under the roof of the Little Finger Post 7731 VFW Hall.
“Both Margie and I came away feeling it was great to be an American,” said Pat Gaudard, former superintendent at Suttons Bay Public School and St. Mary School. “So many times you are somewhere and people are not acting as they should, but everybody was of the same frame of mind. It was a great way to honor our veterans.”
The Memorial Day ceremony is held at Veterans Plaza at the county governmental center when possible, but an all-day rain forced the event to the VFW Hall. It’s sponsored by the Lake Leelanau VFW Post with participation from members of the Eagletown American Legion Post No. 120.
Co-directors Jim Simons and Gene Kelly, Vietnam veterans, took turns introducing speakers and participants. Included were Rachel Amalfitano, who sang the “Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America; Vietnam vet David Brigham of Northport, who led the Pledge of Allegiance; and pastor Kent Anderson of West Bay Covenant Church, who provided the invocation.
Anderson offered a tribute to service members who had made the ultimate sacrifice, whom he called courageous and people of high character. “May we live lives of high character and courage” in their honor, Anderson said.
Tributes were made to veterans present and gone. Dick Grout, who crossed the British channel and stormed Omaha beach on D-Day, found a seat in the front row at the age of 102. He received the first of several standing ovations.
Not present, though, were six VFW members who died in the past year — Alan Aldrich, Gene Couturier, Robert Drow, Elmer Kalchik, Leonard Kropp and Thomas Woods.
Lake Leelanau resident Jeff LaCross as keynote speaker released some of the detail kept close to the vest by veterans who have seen combat. As a second lieutenant, he led a 28-man platoon in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam. Three of those soldiers died during LaCross’ one-year deployment.
“Some platoons lost 10 or more killed in action. Those three young men, like many of the 58,000-plus Americans who sacrificed their lives in Vietnam along with hundreds of thousands in previous and subsequent wars, could have lived to be a husband, dad, uncle or grandpa. Like many who served, I was blessed by the grace of God to be able to return home to my family.
“Fortunately, I was gifted a life to pursue the American dream,” LaCross said.
A teary-eyed Kelly wrapped up the ceremony, recalling an online visit to a website containing photos of every soldier who died in Vietnam. He looked up a buddy who was killed on Dec. 27, 1967, and found it necessary to answer a posted question still held by his sister who had sent a care package of sausage and cheese.
Did her brother have a chance to enjoy the present?
“He did get that package. On Christmas Day, Dec. 25, we shared it, and it was the best Polish sausage I’ve ever eaten,” Kelly informed his comrade’s sister.
“Fallen soldiers are more than a name on the wall … They are the reason we in Leelanau County can celebrate Memorial Day. Thank you for coming,” Kelly said.
