Community Corner

Memorial Day Crowd Honors Those Who Have Served

Redmond-based VFW Post #2995 hosted a remembrance ceremony Monday at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Bellevue.

Scores of people came out to honor U.S. veterans Monday at the Sunset Hills Memorial Park. in Bellevue. The Memorial Day ceremony was hosted by the Lake Washington VFW Post #2995, based in Redmond.

Attendees of the event included a contingent of veterans, such as John Roncevich, a Bellevue resident and veteran of three conflicts: World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam.

Roncevich was visibly moved during part of the ceremony, when two-time veteran Capt. Frank Selden of the U.S. Army National Guard recounted his experiences as a member of the military's casualty notification team, highlighting the sacrifices that family members make alongside servicemen and women.

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“Some people wonder if it’s harder to be in the armed forces or to love someone in the armed forces,” Selden said. He said that though the official script for notifying families of a death, what comes after the prescribed notification is different for each family.

“Some people cry, some people call out in rage, and some people don’t know what to do,” he said.

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Selden is a member of the Lake Washington VFW Post #2995, which provided the color guard as well. A long list of organizations participated in the ceremony in some way.

Other attendees, like Diane Peterson of Redmond and Katherine Laureano, were there to honor family members who have served or are currently active duty.

Laureano has a brother who is a two-time veteran, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and her father was injured in Vietnam.

She said it’s important to her to introduce her son Dylan, who is almost 2, to the importance of honoring veterans.

Following the laying of the wreaths in honor of veterans from the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, police departments and fire departments, the American Legion Post #239 and the VFW Post #2995 Honor Guard performed a gun salute, and Jack Steidl, a bugler with the VFW Post #2995 played Taps.

Steidl has been volunteering to play at the ceremony for the last 10 years, and he announced this was to be his final performance at the Memorial Day Remembrance.

This was the 59th year of the service at Sunset Hills. A Military Living History Museum Exhibit at Sunset Hills continues today until 4 p.m., including participants dressed in era-specific uniforms and discussion memorabilia and artifacts from our country’s previous and present wars.

In the front of the Memorial Park, the numerous large flags on display have all been donated by family members of servicemen and women who have died, and the flags adorned the caskets of those servicemen and women. The flags are flown on holidays such as Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day, and will be displayed again from July 1 to 4, when a replica of the Vietnam Memorial makes a stop at Sunset Hills, said Hank Kerns, CEO of Sunset Hills Memorial Park and Funeral Home.


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