Hundreds of Lake Orion-area veterans and residents came out in force on Monday to observe Memorial Day and honor those who sacrificed all for freedom.
There were several events held throughout the day but the two that captured the most attention were the parade through downtown and the ceremony held at the Orion Veteran’s Memorial.
Hundreds came downtown to march in and watch the parade. The event was highlighted by the honoring of a Lake Orion man, Howard “Red” McCarrick, age 90, and a 64-year resident of Lake Orion. (See Page 32 for more on McCarrick.)
McCarrick served during World War II as a ball turret gunner for the Army Air Corps. He served on patrols on B-24 Liberators in the southwest United States.
Following the parade, there was the annual ceremony at Orion Veteran’s Memorial.
Members of the Lake Orion High School band entertained visitors with patriotic music. Several speakers, led by Dr. Joseph Mastramatteo, talked of the sacrifices made by soldiers for the freedoms enjoyed in the United States.
At the end of the ceremony, Dr. Howard White, a member of the Michigan Minutemen Platoon, played Taps.
The names of 41 Orion-area soldiers who died during the wars were read to the crowd. Those 41 men included 11 from the Civil War, three from World War I, 18 from World War II, five from the Korean War, two from the Vietnam War and one from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Memorial Day address was given by Army veteran Thomas F. Allport, a member of American Legion Post 233 in Lake Orion.
Allport told a story about retired Marine Corps. General John F. Kelly, who was asked after his son died in Afghanistan, if the loss of his life was worth the mission of a soldier serving his country.
In a Memorial Day speech in 2015 Kelly said:
“I have been asked if it was worth the life of someone they brought into the world, raised and nurtured so lovingly, and so much looked forward to seeing grow and find wonderful husbands and wives, and give them grandchildren to spoil,” he said. “My sense then was it is inconceivable for anyone to understand that has not had his own heart pierced with such sadness. I learned I was right.”
Kelly said the day that his family buried his son at Arlington Cemetery, he felt he got his answer.
It only mattered, he said, that his son chose to fight in Afghanistan, and that he had determined that “it was worth it to him to risk everything — even his life — in the service of his country.
“So, in spite of the terrible emptiness that is in a corner of my heart and I now know will be there until I see him again, and in the corners of the hearts of everyone who ever knew him, we are proud, so very proud,” Kelly said. “Was it worth his life? It’s not for me to say. He answered the question for me.”