On Memorial Day Sunday, the congregation of Shiloh UMC concluded their morning service by going into the cemetery to place American flags on the graves of the veterans buried there.
We found 26 veterans buried in the Shiloh UMC cemetery. There are veterans spanning from the Civil War through the Korean War. We have confirmed two veterans that fought for the Confederacy.
One member of Shiloh commented that he had attended church there for 60 years and this was the first time that they had recognized the veterans in this way.
We don't have complete records; branch of service, rank, conflict, dates, etc; on all the veterans. There are probably other veterans that we haven't realized as of yet. But this was our start.
Our plan is to do this every May for Memorial Day and again every November for Veterans Day. That way the flags will be replaced every 6 months. The old flags will taken to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars or American Legion for proper disposal.
We concluded our morning service gathered in the shade of the big oak tree in the cemtery. We talked about the importance of what we had just done and how we need to teach this to future generations, so that they will remember.
I know that there are some that feel that we should not combine the spiritual and the secular. That the church is not the place to recognize National days like Memorial Day. For me, this is a Holy day and it is our intention to continue to remember those who stood in the gap made the sacrifice that we might gather and worship in freedom.
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