Provo remembers the fallen at Memorial Day service

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Family and friends gathered, surrounded by flags and flowers, to remember those who sacrificed for the cause of freedom, at the Provo City Memorial Day service on Monday.

Hundreds attended the service to commemorate Memorial Day. Several attended in uniform, representing nearly every branch of the military and many wars of the past.

The Timpview High Band, under the direction of David Fullmer, played several American favorites including the Star-Spangled Banner, Hymn to the Fallen and each branch of the U.S. military’s service song.

David Gunn, Provo City Veterans Council Chair and keynote speaker, addressed those in attendance about the origins of Memorial Day. He said originally Memorial Day, previously called Decoration Day and held on May 30, was celebrated to remember the lives those who had fallen in the Civil War.

Gunn said many southern states still debate about where it began, but because of its beginnings, Americans take a day in the spring to remember those brave men and women who died in combat. He talked about the exceptional nature of today’s military and reminded those in attendance about the importance of unity. Quoting General George Patton, Gunn said, “An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps and fights as a team. This individual stuff is a bunch of bull.”

The service concluded with the wreath-laying ceremony on the Provo City Veterans Memorial by Provo City Mayor John Curtis and a 21-gun salute by metro SWAT.

After the ceremony, the crowd dispersed to place tributes at the resting places of lost loved ones.

 

 

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