Hopkinsville’s traditional Memorial Day ceremonies at Riverside Cemetery and Kentucky Veterans Cemetery-West have been canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Although the formal ceremony cannot be held this year, the veterans cemetery will be open Monday to groups of 10 or fewer people who observe social distancing. Flags will be placed at graves, and the cemetery carillon will play patriotic music, the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs announced.
The department’s commissioner, Keith Jackson, issued the following message:
“This Memorial Day, we will be remembering our veterans who have passed not by gathering by the hundreds at veterans cemeteries, not by bringing large groups of family and friends to place flowers on graves, not by crowding together to hear speeches, but by staying apart to protect each other and the nation those veterans died to preserve.
“We do not have to attend big ceremonies to honor our fallen heroes — we can honor them in our homes. We do not have to hear patriotic music to remember what they did — we see the success of their sacrifice around us every day. On this Memorial Day, take strength and determination and renewed commitment from their example, and keep fighting to save all our loved ones from the pandemic that threatens us all.
“I remind you to join Americans everywhere for the Memorial Day National Moment of Remembrance, legislated by Congress and proclaimed by the President, on Monday, May 25 at three o’clock. Wherever you are, please pause for one minute in this act of national unity to demonstrate your gratitude and respect for those who died for our freedom.”
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1913, off Skyline Drive, will have a ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday with the presentation of colors and brief remarks, post commander John Brame told WHOP. It is planned outdoors and those attending should space out or remain in their vehicles, he said. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be indoors at the post headquarters.
Rain showers and thunderstorms are likely after 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service forecast.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
