American Legion hosts remembrance ceremony Nov. 8

Editor

jevans@pickenssentinel.com

PICKENS - Those who served their country may be gone, but American Legion Post 11 and Hillcrest Memorial Park are ensuring their names will never be forgotten.

The annual Post-Everlasting Ceremony will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 in The Chapel at Dillard Funeral Home at Hillcrest Memorial Park.

While Veterans Day is Nov. 11, organizers hold the ceremony on the Saturday before to give more people a chance to attend.

"Veterans Day is on a Tuesday and a lot of people are at work," said Phil Cournoyer, American Legion District 6 Commander.

During the ceremony, names of veterans who have died since the last ceremony will be read aloud, Cournoyer said.

"We'll read the list of all the deceased veterans who have passed through local funeral homes in past year, since November 2007," he said. "We'll recognize them by name and by branch of service."

After the roll call, a procession will leave the church and go into the grounds, where the list of names will be burnt, Cournoyer said.

"This is a ceremony which will we call Post-Everlasting," he said. "It's a Veterans Day Ceremony in which all our deceased members are honored and respected.

"We read their names and we burn the list," Cournoyer continued. "We believe that the smoke rising to the heavens is taking their name to Heaven right along with it, along with our prayers for them."

The list is compiled by local funeral homes, he said.

Anyone who feels a veteran in their family may have been left off the list, or wishes to check for sure, should call Cournoyer at 898-1611 or call 878-9312.

Family and friends can also sign in their veterans' names a half-hour before the ceremony, Cournoyer said.

Veterans need not have passed away in the area to be added to the list, he said.

"It doesn't have to be just Pickens County (veterans)," Cournoyer said. "If they have veteran that they would like to be remembered, just give us those names."

Tom Harris, state membership director for the American Legion's Department of South Carolina, will serve as the guest speaker.

Members of the Pickens High School band, directed by Laura Brooks, will perform at the ceremony.

Lt. Col. Pete Stockunas and Pickens JROTC cadets will also take part in the ceremony.

The ceremony will also include a POW/MIA recognition and remembrance and a reading of the poem "Flanders' Field."

Refreshments will be served after the ceremony.

Organizers wish to thank Dillard Funeral Home for use of their chapel.