THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605250195
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SERIES: On Memorial Day: Remembering fallen heroes
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 84 lines
Memorial Day is more than a holiday from work, a day at the beach or a shopping spree.
It is a day to remember more than 651,000 men and women who have died in defense of this country or a cause taken on by Americans at home or somewhere around the world.
Starting with 6,824 dead in the Revolutionary War, fighting for this nation's freedom, the numbers tick on through more than two centuries:
War of 1812: 2,260 dead
Mexican War: 1,733
Civil War: 214,938
Spanish-American War: 385
World War I: 53,513
World War II: 292,131
Korea: 33,629
Vietnam: 46,498
Desert Storm: 141
Untold thousands of those who died in all these conflicts came from Hampton Roads.
For longer than anyone living can remember, the people of Portsmouth have marked Memorial Day with a parade downtown to honor the war dead.
It is a tradition that could be expected in a city changed by every war in this nation's history, a place where wars mark local history, a place where thousands of the men and women of the military continue to make their homes, a place where war readiness is part of life and part of the economy.
That tradition continues this year. Beginning at 10 a.m., the 60-unit parade, featuring nine bands, will march down London Boulevard from the site of the new I.C. Norcom High School to Crawford Street. Military brass and city officials will view the parade from a stand on Middle Street.
Former City Councilman J. Herbert Simpson, who organized the parade for much of this century until this year, will be honored as grand marshal.
In 1980, Simpson said he had traced the parade back for more that 100 years, talking to men in their 90s who remembered it from childhood and who heard about it from their fathers and grandfathers. By Simpson's calculations, the annual parade is well over a century old and is the longest continuous Memorial Day parade in Virginia.
Simpson opted out of organizing it this year due to ill health. In his place, Paul Forehand of the city Parks and Recreation Department is staging the event.
In addition to the parade, the annual service at the Naval Medical Center will begin at 9 a.m. The cemetery on the grounds of the nation's first Navy hospital is the burial place of more than 150 men who served during most of the nation's wars and conflicts. The earliest marked grave dates to 1838.
The tombstones include the names of sailors from around the world who have died here for a variety of reasons including wars, shipwrecks and disease. On Monday, small flags of many nations will be displayed on their graves along with the American flags that will fly at the tombstone of each U.S. citizen.
A new tradition will begin with the dedication in Cedar Grove cemetery of a memorial to those who built and manned the CSS Virginia, the Civil War ironclad that made wooden ships obsolete and changed naval history around the world when it engaged the ironclad Monitor in Hampton Roads.
The memorial was created from a piece of granite from the first drydock - and the nation's oldest - at the Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. The drydock was used to convert the frigate Merrimack into the ironclad Virginia.
The dedication ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. After the program, William and Edith Blake will lead tours of the cemetery, a National Historic Landmark.
M.H. ``Hank'' Morris, commander of the Stonewall Jackson Camp of Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the monument is the first to honor those who refitted and manned the Virginia. The ironclad ship, he said, is one of many of the region's important historical events.
Morris, who was with the Navy in the Pacific during World War II, chose Memorial Day for the dedication.
``This day honors all those who have sacrificed their lives for this land of freedom and opportunity for all,'' he said. ``It is one of our most important days. It is a time when the nation should pause and remember.''
Noting that many people ``find other things to do'' and that ``many seldom remember the sacrifices of those who fought for freedom,'' Morris said he would like to see all citizens take half an hour to say, ``Thanks for your sacrifice.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
Retired Chief Petty Officer John Edelen, who served in Vietnam
and in the Persian Gulf War, visits the POW-MIA memorial at
Portsmouth Naval Medical Center. The staff photo was taken by Mark
Mitchell. by CNB