PRUNTYTOWN, W.Va. — Memorial Day weekend will bring thousands of people into Taylor County to honor some of our nation’s fallen soldiers at two separate Memorial Day events.
On Sunday at 3 p.m., shuttle buses and golf carts will take people up to the WV National Cemetery to pay their respects to our nation’s fallen heroes in a ceremony featuring Fred Buchanan, the American Legion State Commander.
A second event will be held Monday. Starting at 10 a.m., a Memorial Day parade will march through Grafton and conclude with a ceremony at the Grafton National Cemetery.
“Literally thousands of people involved,” said Keith Barnes, Director of the National Cemetery in Pruntytown on Thursday’s edition of “The Mike Queen Show” heard on the MetroNews affilated AJR News Network. “It’s actually a very short parade in terms of distance, but there’s so many people involved it takes two hours or so to make it’s way through.”
The Memorial Day remembrance in Taylor County continues to be one of the nation’s longest-running traditions.
“It’s the longest continuously running Memorial Day program,” said Barnes. “It started all the way as far back as 1868 or even 1867.”
On Monday, those paying respect will be joined by Kevin T. Hanretta, the Assistant Secretary for Operations, Security, and Preparedness for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C.
“We’re honored to have him with us this year, and moving forward maybe we’ll try to get more of the speakers out of the D.C. area for us,” said Barnes.
He said preparations for Memorial Day are a year-round process.
“It’s almost year-round working as a committee organizing that.”
For those seeking to honor specific veterans, they can look up names in a database provided at the Kiosk located in the Administration building.
The West Virginia National Cemetery in Pruntytown is one of 131 national cemeteries in 40 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.
There are approximately 5500 people interned at the West Virginia National Cemetery. It is made up of a combination of veterans, their spouses, and their children.