County pauses for Memorial Day reflections

With Hillsboro VFW Post 9094 Commander Rick Wilkin serving as master of ceremonies, the Memorial Day observance in uptown Hillsboro included participation by Alberta Duncan and the Hillsboro High School band, who performed the National Anthem; local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, who led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance; and Bill Siddons and George Steward, who conducted lowering of the American flag to half-staff.
Commissioner Tom Horst read a proclamation from the Highland County Commissioners, thanking veterans and families for their service and proclaiming the national holiday as a "day of prayer for permanent peace."

Tom Mitchell, Ohio director of the Honor and Remember organization, presented a flag to Mike and Connie Gullett of Hillsboro in honor of their son, Private First Class Zachary Gullett. PFC Gullett, of Hillsboro, died May 1, 2007 while stationed in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq while serving with C Company 787 Military Police Battalion.

Mitchell said that Honor and Remember was founded by George Lutz, who lost his son, Tony, in Iraq in 2005. Lutz began traveling to speak to families of soldiers across the country and said that he found that "a family's biggest fear was that their loved one would be forgotten."

Mitchell said that the organization's name comes from the John F. Kennedy quote, "A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers."[[In-content Ad]]

The Honor and Remember organization presents personalized flags to families. According to the organization's website, the components of each flag represent: the blood spilled by brave men and women in America’s military; active service in military conflict; the purity of sacrifice; the ultimate sacrifice of a warrior in active service who will not return home; the final tribute to an individual life that a family sacrificed and gave to the nation; and a flame that serves as an eternal reminder of the spirit that has departed this life yet burns on in the memory of all who knew and loved the fallen hero.

"With this flag, we humbly recognize the enormity of your loss and respectfully say thank you," Mitchell told Mr. and Mrs. Gullett.

Disabled American Veterans Commander Gary Smaltz announced the presentation of wreaths.

"Long ago, it was said a nation that forgets those who served it will not be a great nation any longer," Smaltz said. "That was spoken by the General George Washington. Let us this day never forget those who have served our country."

The following representatives laid wreaths on the Veterans Memorial: Daughters of the American Revolution; Junior American Citizen Jeremiah Tarr; Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Rick Wilkin; Commissioner Horst; Jack Thompson; Veterans Service Officer Robin Brown; American Legion member Kevin Barreras, CVSO/Outreach Officer Brian Fox; Ray Alexander; Commissioner Shane Wilkin; and Hillsboro VFW Ladies Auxiliary President Sherry Mills.