12:00 AM - 12:00 AM
Our event was a success even though attendance was low due to inclement weather and scanty advertising. We honored our own lost heroes from our hometown, on a shoestring budget, with a spontaneous plan for doing so. This ceremony will grow in feeling, public awareness, creativity, and attendance as the commemorative period progresses. Our goal is to recognize all the state of New Hampshire's lost heroes, one by one, by attaching a dog tag to a panel.
As his hometown, name, rank, branch of service, birth date, date of death, and age is read, a bell is rung after each, and the tag is tied to a staple with a yellow ribbon (uninsulated electrical staple is used). The panel is half inch plywood, 6 feet high, width varies with the number of dog tags to be hung, and is painted with black chalkboard paint. We made the dog tags out of flashing, cut with sheet metal scissors, and pounded the hole with a nail. Then we used a sharpie to write their names. Post-it notes were attached with the vital information for purposes of the ceremony, and a flower was placed at the base of a wreath after each post-it was read. We had 2 readers who alternated, a master of ceremonies, and a chaplain who offered prayers. For 20 boys, the entire ceremony took 30 minutes.
At the end, chalk was made available to attendees, and they were invited to write whatever expression of gratitude and love they felt for the fallen. So, it became an interactive ceremony where all were participating in a tangible way. Now, we have a panel that will one day stand with many others, lined up together as a moveable wall, at the State House in the capital, on display for all who pass through its doors.
The crowning touch was the fact that 3 chapter coordinated 3 separate simultaneous ceremonies that day, in 3 different parks. In total, 44 boys were honored within a 25 mile radius on Veteran's Day. We hope Memorial Day 2016 will see many more.