“Remembrance matters,” Pottsville City Councilman Jonathan Marsh told a crowd inside First United Methodist Church on Monday morning.
“It matters that we pause. It matters that we return. And it matters that we speak the names and honor the sacrifice of those who never came home,” he continued.
Marsh was the keynote speaker of the city’s Memorial Day ceremony that was forced inside the church due to morning rain showers. The Pottsville ceremony was one of a number of ceremonies around Schuylkill County to mark Memorial Day this year.
The councilman is a US Marine Corps veteran. He served as an Intelligence Analyst and Operator and completed more than 350 combat missions during two deployments to Iraq.
Marsh told a crowd of about 50 people to reflect on the names on war memorials just outside the church’s doors in Garfield Square and around Pottsville.
“Each name on a memorial was once a neighbor, a friend, a classmate, a son and daughter of this city. Their stories did not end because they were forgotten. Their stories continue because we remember,” Marsh said. “The monuments around us are not just stone. They are promises. They are reminders that each generation inherits both the freedomes secured by those who came before and the responsibility to care for the community they left behind.”
During his speech, Marsh recognized the Pottsville war veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts ranging from World War I through Afghanistan.
At Monday’s ceremony, the Pottsville Third Brigade Band performed, Winter Carnival royalty – including Abree Lewis, Riley Fogarty, and Madelyn Fink – read “In Flanders Field” and The Gettysburg Address as well as recognizing the names on the newest Hometown Heroes banners.
The Call to Order was delivered by William Higgins, of Veterans of the Vietnam War Post #29.
Orwigsburg Parade Honors the Fallen
Early Monday morning, Orwigsburg hosted its annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony on Market Square.
Here are some of the images we captured from today’s parade:
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