Liberty All Church continued its decades-long Memorial Day tradition Sunday, May 25 with a service honoring the veterans buried in the church cemetery, as well as fallen service men and women throughout the Country.
Mrs. Carolyn Espey welcomed the congregation and offered a brief history of Liberty All and its Memorial Day tradition.
“Liberty All is celebrating its 170th anniversary this year,” she said.
She explained that the first church building was a log structure built in 1855.
That original building burned, and was later replaced with the current one in 1878.
“Memorial Day here at Liberty All has been a special day for a long time,” she said. “We’ve had a program like this continually since 1982, but we do have programs before that.”
She recalled a program dating back to the early 1930s.
There is a 1925 edition of Carroll County Democrat with an article about a service at Liberty All which honored fallen veterans.
Espey said she believed the tradition began shortly after World War I.
Pastor Jennifer Sauer led the congregation in prayer, asking for peace and strength for the families of the fallen.
Following the Medley of Service song during which veterans stood as their branch was recognized, Allen Espey introduced the guest speaker, Bob Newman.
Newman is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and former longtime Huntingdon resident.
He spoke about military service and the importance of remembering those who died in service.
“If we’re going to entitle this little talk this morning, I would call it ‘Heroes,’ because I’m going to refer to heroes several times,” he said.
Newman shared stories of several fallen soldiers, including Major Walter Sidney Butler Jr., a Carroll County native who went missing in action in 1945 during a mission over China.
“His plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on his last pass,” Newman said. “His last communication that we know of was, ‘I am hit’.”
Butler is commemorated in many monuments throughout the world, including the Philippines, Japan, Washington DC, the Carroll County War Memorial in Huntingdon, and in Liberty All Cemetery.
Newman also recalled Sergeant Mike Strank, one of the Marines famously photographed raising the American flag on Iwo Jima, who was killed two days later.
“His men were fiercely loyal to him because of his tremendous love and protective leadership,” Newman said. “One of them at his death said, ‘If there had been some way I could have died in his place, I would have done it.’”
He spoke of Colonel John Page, who led soldiers and Marines in Korea and died charging a roadblock to protect his convoy. Page was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.
Newman also honored Vietnam hero Lance Corporal Thomas Creek, who threw himself onto a grenade to save fellow Marines.
“These men fought to save Europe, the United States, and the world,” Newman said. “There’s no greater sense of gratitude than when you spend time personally reflecting on the sacrifices these heroes made for you and me.”
After Newman’s speech, Allen Espey read the names of the 77 veterans interred at Liberty All, beginning with those from the Mexican War to the most recent conflicts.
The service concluded with the congregation singing “God Bless America” as Gary Merritt and Marty Towater carried out the flags.
The congregation placed a flag on each veteran’s grave, and Taps was played to close the ceremony.
