Cass County veterans received recognition for their sacrifices during a Memorial Day parade that drew hundreds to observe the national holiday.

American Legion posts also conducted memorial services to honor veterans at Galveston Cemetery and Walton’s I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

The parade began after a ceremony Monday morning outside the Logansport City Building. Police stopped traffic at the busy downtown intersection of Sixth Street and Broadway while patriotic songs were played, the American flag was raised and a wreath was placed at the Doughboy Monument.

“The men and women who have laid the foundation for our freedom deserve our respect,” Cass County Veterans Council President Jeff Mercier said.

Mayor Mike Fincher spoke to the crowd that lined the streets.

“What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? More importantly, what is worth living for?,” he asked.

The holiday, he answered, is meant to honor those who knew the answer to those questions — veterans.

“They realized then, as they do today, that words like honor, loyalty and commitment were not just words that exist in the minds of those too naive to know or understand their meaning,” said Fincher, who referenced the American Revolution, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the ongoing Middle East conflicts.

“We should thank God every day for their sacrifices,” he said.

Veteran and Logansport resident Norm Dunsizer felt he should attend the ceremony.

“I just like to participate. If they are men and women enough to come out and do it, I should be man enough to come watch it,” said Norm, who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1952 to 1955.

Norm called the ceremony impressive. He and his wife, Betty, have been attending the Memorial Day parade for many years. “So many we don’t remember,” said Betty.

The parade of veterans, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and the Caston High School band made its way to the Cass County Government Building on Fourth Street for another round of speeches, prayers and salutes by the firing squad.

Commissioner Jim Sailors asked those in attendance to thank a veteran every chance they get because without veterans the country would not exist as it does today.

At the Sixth Street bridge, Cub and Boy Scouts tossed flowers into the Eel River.

Frank Miller, who served eight years in the Navy from 1956 to 1965, recited a prayer for the 15th year at the remembrance program. Before the flowers were dropped into the swift flowing river, he explained that all water eventually makes it to the ocean, where many shipmates and comrades died serving their country.

For each ceremony that took place on the way to Mount Hope Cemetery, Caston’s band played “Taps” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

While at the cemetery, State Sen. Randy Head gave a detailed account of the trials faced by the men buried around the Civil War Monument. He described the hundreds of soldiers whose names are inscribed on the monument as regular people who farmed nearby fields and worked in downtown shops. When their country needed them, they took up the call to arms.

“They put down their plows and ledgers because their country needed it, and they felt it was their duty to respond,” Head said.

The senator credited the men of the 46th, 99th and 20th Indiana regiments for the efforts that ultimately led to Union victory. He said many of their individual stories had been lost to time, but that did not have to be the case for the veterans present during Monday’s ceremony.

To bring home that point, Head quoted a portion of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which was given at the dedication of the National Cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863.

“From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion. They freely offered up their lives that the nation under God might have a new birth of freedom and that the government of the people, for the people and by the people, should not perish from the earth,” said Head, who went on to show his appreciation for veterans.

“Thank you to all of the veterans for all you have done for these freedoms, for us and for this country.”

Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com