HOLLAND, Mich. — Like so many other events this Spring, the Holland Memorial Day parade was cancelled, but that did not stop veterans from honoring their fallen comrades.
In its place, a ceremony was held outside VFW Post 2144 for safety and spacing, put together with the help of the American Legion, the Marine Corps League and the Vietnam Veterans of America.
The ceremony featured most of the traditions on this day that honors our nations men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.
It had buglers who played taps, the honor guard performed the traditional 21 gun rifle salute, the Mayor of Holland laid a wreath in honor of the fallen, and a piano player performed The Star Spangled Banner.
Despite the challenges this year, organizers told Fox 17 they were determined to find a way to honor this day, despite the extra challenges.
"We've had to limit a bit the volume of the celebration that we have due to Covid-19," Holland mayor Nathan Bocks said. "That doesn't mean we can't still stand tall and remember those that gave everything for us."
"As soon as we heard that the Memorial Day parade had been cancelled, we understood it, but we also knew we needed to do something, we couldn't just let this day go by," said VFW Post 2144 Commander Mike Martin. "We contacted the other commanders of the other organizations and the end result is what we had today."
The ceremony was live-streamed on the city of Holland's website and is still able to be viewed there and on the city's Facebook page.
