Honoring the fallen on Memorial Day
Photo by Josh McDonald Cadet Major Bailey Haynie leads the members of Kellogg High School’s Marine Corps JROTC honor guard following their 21-gun salute at Greenwood Cemetery in Kellogg.
Over the course of Memorial Day weekend several cadets from the Kellogg High School MCJROTC program took time to help the local Osburn VFW place flags at the gravesites of all of the veterans at the local cemeteries in Shoshone County, as well as going around to all of the cemeteries on Memorial Day and conducting a 21-gun salute.
The VFW members did a terrific job with their ceremonies, as the legacy of their words coupled with the raw emotion that accompanies a 21-Gun Salute.
“We would like to thank the Kellogg High School ROTC program for their continued help and support during our Memorial Day ceremonies,” Osburn VFW quartermaster Joe Wallace said.
According to Marine Instructor Sergeant Major Jeff Smith, the turnout of volunteers from the JROTC program was bigger than has been in the past.
“We had a lot of kids want to be involved in this,” Smith said. “We really enjoy doing this. The kids were out placing flags on Saturday morning and we seem to get more and more participation each year.”
On Saturday morning the cadets placed more than 800 flags inside Kellogg’s Greenwood Cemetery.
Beginning at 9 a.m. the cadets went to Osburn Cemetery, Good Samaritan Rehabilitation Center in Silverton, the Osburn VFW, Mountain View Cemetery in Mullan, Nine-Mile Cemetery, Murray Cemetery, Shoshone Memorial Gardens in Kingston and Greenwood Cemetery in Kellogg. Each stop had a 21-gun salute and a rendition of Taps played by JROTC Cadet Joey Gibbs.