Memorial Day weekend events will honor the military

Carson City will observe Memorial Day with events at Lone Mountain and Stewart cemeteries.

At Lone Mountain Cemetery, the ceremony will involve an honor guard and speakers.

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Boy Scouts will place more than 500 flags on veterans' graves at Lone Mountain Ceremony.

John Nulty, past VFW state commander, said the organization is seeking more help.

"The Boy Scouts in Troop No. 145 are a wonderful group of kids," Nulty said. "We hope to get them organized to do this every year. These old veterans are getting too old to put those flags out without any help. I've been doing it myself for years."

Anyone interested in helping should be at the Carson City cemetery at 8 a.m.

Pastor Bruce Henderson will be chaplain for the 2 p.m. ceremony, which will feature an honor guard from the Air National Guard in Reno.

Veterans Bill McConnell and Todd Jennings are scheduled to speak at the ceremony.

Call 887-2111.

The cemetery will be the third stop for the Marine Corps League Silver State Detachment's tour of Western Nevada cemeteries.

Detachment members will fire a three-volley salute from a Jeep-mounted 75mm recoiless gun at noon.

A Navy Junior ROTC color guard and a bugler from Carson High School will accompany the detachment as its members visit the four cemeteries.

They are scheduled to start in Virginia City at 10 a.m. then arrive at Dayton Cemetery at 11 a.m. The detachment will wrap up at the Stewart Cemetery at 1 p.m.

The Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley will be the site of a tribute to veterans at 11 a.m. on Memorial Day.

Guest of honor will be Charles Harton, a highly decorated Korean War veteran. The keynote speaker will be Adm. Timothy Beard, commander, Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, NAS Fallon.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Memorial Day in the United States originated to honor the Union soldiers who died during the Civil War. By the end of the 19th century, ceremonies were held throughout the nation.

After World War I, Memorial Day evolved to be a day to honor the dead of all wars, but it was not until 1971 that Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress.

Call Ray Alcorn, executive director, Nevada Office of Veterans' Services, 688-1653.

VFW members will be selling poppies in front of several area stores