Though many towns and cities across the United States put up crosses to honor veterans for Memorial Day, Henderson “may be one of the very few that has every single veteran’s name on the crosses,” said Ken Christopher, the immediate past president of the Henderson Veterans Memorial Foundation.
Again this year, as has occurred every May for decades, the display comprised of more than 6,100 crosses with accompanying names of Henderson veterans stands in Central Park.
The foundation works alongside the American Legion Post 40 each year to both place the crosses in the park and host a Memorial Day service there.
The program will be 10 a.m.-12 noon Monday in Central Park.
Henderson resident Sarah Whitledge Taylor, who is the immediate past national president of the American Gold Star Mothers, will be the featured speaker at the Memorial Day service. The American Gold Star Mothers is an organization of mothers who’ve lost a son or daughter in combat. Taylor lost her son, David, on March 29, 2012, during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Taylor said a good portion of her speech will be focused on honoring those who died in battle for this country.
“I want people to realize what Memorial Day is all about,” she said.
Taylor has in her past duties with the American Gold Star Mothers advocated for Vietnam War veterans. She said she’ll also talk about those veterans “who had no support when they came home.”
Another focal point for Taylor has been the epidemic of suicide among many soldiers once they return home. She said it’s been a goal of hers to educate and raise awareness of this issue.
Christoper, a Vietnam War veteran, said almost all veterans have dealt with—in some way—a veteran who has died by suicide, and recently in the U.S. a rash of veteran suicides have occurred.
“It’s been as high as 28 veterans a day lost to suicide,” he said.
The service, Christopher said, is not meant to be a festive occasion, but instead a somber reminder of those who served and their sacrifice. In addition to Taylor’s speech, it will include the Missing Man ceremony and placing of wreaths on monuments to honor each branch of the military, Christopher said.
This year in connection with the crosses and Memorial Day program, Henderson will host the Traveling Kentucky Vietnam Wall. On this wall, which is at the Old Courthouse lawn till Sunday, there are more than 1,000 names of Kentucky soldiers who died in the Vietnam War, said Christopher.
The ceremony will also signal a change. For many years, Col. Jim Smith emceed the Memorial Day service. Smith, who served 26 years in the United States Army and Kentucky National Guard, died in late April. Smith was also a longtime educator at South Junior High School and later Henderson County High School.
“He will be sorely, sorely missed,” Christopher said, adding Smith was a Huey helicopter pilot in Vietnam and “those guys were brave beyond brave” while landing and taking off in hot spots for supplies, reinforcements or medical evacuations.
Lt. Col. Heather Toews (retired), an Air Force veteran and Henderson native, will replace Smith as emcee. Fitting, said Christopher, because Smith once taught her.
“She’ll do a good job replacing Jim,” Christopher said. “But those are big shoes to fill.”
Toews was the featured speaker at last year’s Memorial Day service, he said.
Christoper said that 60 to 100 crosses are added every year to the Central Park display. Most come by way of a family member’s or loved one’s referral, he said. The cross display contains crosses for veterans who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, the First and Second Gulf Wars and the War in Afghanistan, he said.
For more information or to make a donation, go to https://hendersonveteransmemorialfoundation.org.