Members of the military and veterans - some in their 20s, some decades older - and their families reflect on service and sacrifice at memorial ceremonies.
By NORA KOCH
Published June 1, 2004
PALM HARBOR - When the trumpeter started taps at Monday morning's Memorial Day service by the cemetery's Circle of Valor, Marine Lance Cpl. Kris Wernberg's eyes began to tear.
"I understand what it's like to fight for your country," said Wernberg, 25. The soft-spoken infantryman returned from a tour in Iraq last June and will ship back to the Middle East in July. "When you hear the Pledge of Allegiance now, it just sends chills through your body."
For Wernberg and his family, Memorial Days past were for barbecues and pool parties.
But this year the Palm Harbor family postponed its usual get-together to attend the service at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens.
At 9:30 a.m., about 200 people gathered beneath a canopy of shady trees near the entrance to the sprawling memorial garden. The flag at the Circle of Valor flew at half-staff while local dignitaries who were veterans made speeches honoring fallen soldiers and clergy members said prayers, laying a wreath at the monument.
Dunedin Mayor John Doglione, who served in the Air Force for 32 years, told the crowd that the day called for them to pause and reflect.
"We must continue to show our resolve by supporting those that are in harm's way today, by showing the world that we as Americans will stand shoulder to shoulder in defending our way of life and freedom as we honor and remember those that have gone before us, not just today or yesterday but year round," Doglione said.
The crowd mostly consisted of veterans and their families.
This year's ceremony marked the passage of time: While a few of the crowd, like Wernberg, are involved in the war in Iraq, most had seen their combat during World War II and the Korean War. For at least the past decade, the annual service has been sponsored by the Fleet Reserve Association, Branch 109 in Clearwater.
But this year the aging group decided not to arrange the ceremony, and passed the baton to organizers at Curlew Hills, said Tom Montgomery of the Fleet Reserve.
"Most of us are close to 80," Montgomery said. "We can't do it anymore."
As the World War II generation dwindles, young troops like Wernberg know that they will need to fill the void.
"It's not about playing PlayStation or Xbox," said Wernberg, who enlisted in the Marines two years ago, inspired by 9/11.
That kind of commitment gratified Warren Hildner, an Army Air Forces veteran of World War II and Air Force veteran of Korea.
"You've got to take your hat off to these guys," said Hildner, 82, of Dunedin.
Dunedin residents Clayton and Alicia Wolfe, 30 and 31, came to the service Monday in memory of his grandfather, who served in the Navy during World War II.
"Young people need to appreciate what these gentlemen did 60 years ago," Clayton Wolfe said.
Scott Woodring, a 37-year-old Marine from Clearwater, started his Memorial Day putting flags at veterans' graves at a cemetery in Dunedin.
He spent 51/2 months in Iraq, and says there is a strong chance he might go back.
"You definitely need to take the time out to recognize those who didn't make it back," said Woodring, who planned to attend another service later in the day.
For Wernberg, the day was partly to pay his respects to fallen veterans, and also to celebrate with family while he could.
His mother, Carol Wernberg Mercier, and stepfather, Mario Mercier, planned to host a pool party at their home later in the day.
"When I came back, I'd learned to appreciate the little things, time with family, buying a loaf of bread at the store," he said.
