(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)

“The duty and honor of our veterans, past and present, is the backbone of the nation.”

So declared David Bailey toward the conclusion of the annual Memorial Day service at Forest Lawn Cemetery and Funeral Home (WSB sponsor) in High Point. He also led attendees in song, before and after short speeches by two U.S. Army veterans – Steve Strand, representing VFW Post 2713, and Keith Hughes, representing American Legion Post 160, both headquartered in The Triangle.

This was a different, shorter service than recent years. We of course recorded it all – here are our 17 minutes of video:

No Taps this year, but a wreath was placed at a replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

It was Scott Weaver‘s Eagle Scout project and took almost a year – he’s at left, below, with Sean Dunbar and troop leader Brian Hutchison:

This is the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day. Both veterans included looks back to the time when it originated. From Strand’s speech:

America’s heroes come from every background. They are made up of every race, religion, color, and creed. They have fought in the air, sea, and land, at home and abroad. Despite all their differences they were united in their fight for a better world, and they paid with their lives. They leave behind families, friends, and colleagues. We come today to mourn their passing and to keep their memory alive.

I pray that God comforts each of you that are grieving a loss and I would like to leave you with the words from President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, “To do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Hughes also quoted President Lincoln, from his Gettysburg Address, including, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did … we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.” And he noted that the U.S. number of war dead, since the Civil War, has now passed one million. After also quoting from the famous poem “In Flanders Fields,” Hughes offered this wish: “I pray that you will all rededicate yourselves to the cause of peace and freedom.”

The event included joy as well as solemn contemplation:

It was bookended, as usual, by the Duwamish Dixieland Jazz Band, with lively renditions of patriotic classics.

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)

Volunteers of all ages joined in a holiday tradition, helping American Legion Post 160 deck the West Seattle Junction with flags. They included Scouts from Troop 282 and firefighters from Station 32:

The volunteers gathered at the northeast corner of California/Alaska, and that’s also where you are welcome to meet up at 5 pm to help take them down.

In the meantime, the Stars and Stripes are lining the heart of “downtown West Seattle”:

It is a busy day for Post 160, with the 2 pm Memorial Day service at Forest Lawn (6701 30th SW; WSB sponsor) and a community cookout afterward, starting at 3:15 pm (3618 SW Alaska) – you are welcome at both!

(Flags across from Don Armeni, photographed Sunday night)

Good morning! It’s Memorial Day, and we start with some info you might find helpful:

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT: No traffic report today because of the holiday, but you can see local cameras here. … Metro buses are on a Sunday schedule … So are the West Seattle Water Taxi and its shuttle buses … Sound Transit Route 560 is not running today … And the Washington State Ferries Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run is on the regular weekday schedule.

OTHER MEMORIAL DAY NOTES: Seattle Parks community centers, teen centers, Environmental Learning Centers, and indoor pools are closed … Schools are closed … Seattle Public Library branches are closed … Today is a U.S. Postal Service holiday … If you’re going to a Seattle neighborhood with on-street pay stations/metered parking, you won’t have to pay, because it’s a city “free parking” day.

What’s happening today:

HELP PUT UP/TAKE DOWN JUNCTION FLAGS: American Legion Post 160 appreciates community volunteers to help put up and take down the flags in the West Seattle Junction. Meet on the northeast corner of California/Alaska at 9 am for the morning help and 5 pm for the evening removal.

SPRAYPARK OPEN: Third day of the 7-day-a-week season for Highland Park Spraypark, 11 am-8 pm. (1100 SW Cloverdale)

COLMAN POOL, LAST DAY OF FIRST PRE-SEASON WEEKEND: Three swim sessions, noon-7 pm, at the city-run outdoor saltwater pool at Lincoln Park. See the schedule here. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)

MARINERS FLYOVER: If you see a Boeing C-17 Globemaster flying in the area around 1 pm, it’s a Mariners‘ game flyover.

MEMORIAL DAY SERVICE: The traditional service presented by American Legion Post 160 and community partners is at 2 pm this afternoon at Forest Lawn (WSB sponsor), all welcome. (6701 30th SW)

… FOLLOWED BY A COOKOUT: Again this year, after the Forest Lawn event, Post 160 invites you to a community cookout at its headquarters in The Triangle, 3:15-5 pm. (3618 SW Alaska)