(WSB video of speeches, closing poem, and song)

By Tracy Record and Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

“Let us never lose focus on what Memorial Day really means.”

So said John Phillips from American Legion Post 160 during this afternoon’s short, moving ceremony at Forest Lawn Cemetery (WSB sponsor) east of High Point.

Standing-room-only attendance looked to us to be the biggest we’d seen in years of covering this event, people of all ages there to honor the heroes who had fought for the USA – the heroes who, as Phillips also said, “are not just statistics, but real people.”

(Post 160 adjutant Kyle Geraghty, a Marine Corps veteran, presenting the colors)
The ceremony was co-presented by Post 160 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2713, whose commander Nate Hemphill, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and U.S. Coast Guard reservist, called the holiday “a day of conflicting emotions for each of us,” a day to “look hard at who we are … and aspire to be the best we can be.”

He exhorted everyone present to care for America’s veterans, rather than forgetting about them “when the last troops come home.” The country’s determination and resilience were also in his exhortation: “Our destiny as free people is entirely up to us.”

Phillips (above), a Marine Corps veteran and U.S. Army reservist who works as a veterans-transition specialist at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor), followed him, telling the story of two fallen heroes – U.S. Marine Corps Private Dale M. Hansen, whose actions in World War II led to a Medal of Honor, and U.S. Army intelligence officer Brittany Gordon, killed by a bomb in Afghanistan in 2012.

Also part of the ceremony, Pete Kirkman and Al Keith with echoing “Taps”:

Also, singer Ross Hauck with the national anthem and “God Bless America” (plus a reading of “In Flanders Fields“), and pre- and post-ceremony music from the Duwamish Jazz Band:

For the first time, the ceremony was followed by a reception at the West Seattle Veterans’ Center, co-housed with Post 160 in The Triangle. We went over with no idea of the presentation we would happen onto:

With Post 160’s Geraghty is Paul Chiarello, 92 years old, a paratrooper who landed
at Sainte-Mère-Église on D-Day. He came to present Post 160 with a photo from a memorial ceremony on the 55th anniversary of D-Day in 1999:

As Post 160’s Phillips had said earlier – “remembering once a year is not enough.”

(WSB photo: Residential flag-flying along Alki Ave. SW on Duwamish Head)
Info you might find useful for Memorial Day 2015 in West Seattle:

TRANSPORTATION: Metro is on a Sunday schedule … The West Seattle Water Taxi too (no Vashon WT service) … Sound Transit Route 160 also is on a Sunday schedule … The Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth state-ferry route is on a regular weekday schedule.

SCHOOLS: Seattle Public Schools and Highline Public Schools are closed, as is South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) and most if not all independent schools.

LIBRARIES: Seattle branches are closed, as are King County branches.

FREE CITY-STREET PARKING: Going to a neighborhood with city-operated pay stations/meters? No charge to park today.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE HOLIDAY … according to the official USPS list.

CITY-RUN COMMUNITY CENTERS AND SOUTHWEST POOL … closed today.

COLMAN POOL AND HIGHLAND PARK SPRAYPARK ARE OPEN! The outdoor pool on the Lincoln Park shore is open today at noon, as its first pre-season weekend concludes; the spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale) continues daily operations, 11 am-8 pm.

MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY AT FOREST LAWN: 2 pm, all are welcome at Forest Lawn Cemetery (WSB sponsor) east of High Point for the traditional Memorial Day event with American Legion Post 160 and VFW Post 2713. (6701 30th SW)

P.S. No traffic cams this morning for obvious reasons, but if you need to check them … find them here.