Return to original intent of Memorial Day, McDonald speaker urges

MCDONALD—The three-day Memorial Day weekend has become more of a festive occasion than a solemn one, and that’s precisely what’s wrong with it, said the keynote speaker at the village’s annual Memorial Day ceremony.

“It should return to its traditional day of observance,” said retired Lt. Col. Genevieve Germaniuk before more than 60 people at Woodland Park Sunday. Germaniuk, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves, said the holiday atmosphere “undermined the very meaning of the day.”

She quoted a warning from the Veterans of Foreign Wars that placing the holiday in the context of a three-day weekend “makes it all easier to be distracted.”

Germaniuk’s speech concentrated on the original intent of Memorial Day to permanently honor soldiers and sailors who fought and died in America’s wars. “I wanted it to be a history lesson,” Germaniuk said.

A monument at the park contains the names of 19 McDonald residents who were either killed in action or died from non-combat causes in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. As Mayor Glen Holmes recited their names and the circumstances behind each death, members of the fire department placed flags in a circle for each of the 19.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.