Bowling Green’s Memorial Day Parade has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns and state and local guidance.
The Bowling Green Memorial Day Planning Committee, however, is planning on conducting Memorial Day Services on Saturday, May 23. These services will be private to avoid large crowds and will have segments recorded for posting online at media outlets with links on the City of Bowling Green website.
Frederic E. Matthews, Captain, US Navy, Retired, will deliver the keynote address at the Memorial Day Service at Oak Grove Cemetery.
The National Anthem will be provided by vocalist Evie Van Vorhis. Herbert Dettmer will serve as Chaplain, and Mayor Mike Aspacher will present Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Logan’s Orders will be presented by LTC (US Army, Retired) John Fawcett. A patriotic poem will be read by Joseph Fawcett, BG Assistant Municipal Administrator and Global War on Terrorism veteran.
Prior to the service at Oak Grove Cemetery, there will be a wreath laying ceremony at the Wood County Courthouse Veterans Memorials. A Memorial Day Service will also be held at the Memory Gardens Cemetery on Liberty High Road after the service at Oak Grove Cemetery.
In case of inclement weather, the programs will be held on Sunday, May 24.
The wreath laying will be at 10 a.m.; the Oak Grove service will be at 10:30 a.m.; and the Memory Gardens Service will be at 11:30 a.m.
Matthews was commissioned into the United States Naval Reserve in April 1980, and trained as a Naval officer and a Judge Advocate General at Naval Base, Newport Rhode Island. Following training, he then served at the Naval Legal Service Office Submarine Base, Groton, Connecticut as a defense counsel, prosecutor, and senior counsel, and as a Special Assistant US Attorney.
Upon release from active duty, then Lieutenant Matthews, affiliated with the Navy Reserve. He served in several reserve units in Michigan, Illinois and Washington D.C. as well as several other units which supported active duty components at the Navy and Marine Corp Appellate Activity in Washington D.C., the Fleet Judge Advocate’s Office for the Commander in Chief US Naval Forces Europe in London, United Kingdom. He served as both a Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of two different reserve units. During his service, he was awarded two Navy Achievement Medals, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and a gold star in lieu of second award. He retired in 2010.
In civilian life he is a partner of a Bowling Green, Ohio law firm, Rayle, Matthews & Coon. He has practiced law in Bowling Green since 1985 after he was discharged from active duty. He and his wife, Jeanne Matthews, are the parents of three children, Kristen, Carol and Eric, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard, and the grandparents of Samuel, Maxwell and Kella. He is also the proud son of Harry Matthews, who served during World War II in the Pacific theater and served with the Navy Seabees until 1965 when he retired.
