By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Any other year on Memorial Day, Bowling Green’s Oak Grove Cemetery would be full of families remembering the sacrifices of those killed in service to their country.
Normally, the marching band would play patriotic songs as it paraded through town. Children would line the streets and wave small American flags, men would remove their hats as Old Glory passed by, and people would set up lawn chairs in the cemetery to hear of lives lost.
But this year, the parade was canceled and the cemetery is silent – victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
But a small group of veterans met in Oak Grove Cemetery on Saturday to remember the sacrifice of the fallen.
“It’s important every year for those of us who have served, particularly those who served in war,” said David Ridenour, who served in the Vietnam War.
“They faced horrors much worse than what we’re experiencing today,” he said of the pandemic.
“For me, to get together and honor them is important,” said Ridenour, who said this was the first Easter since he returned from Vietnam that he was not able to spend the holiday with family.
“It’s important,” he said.
Veteran John Fawcett agreed that despite the lack of fanfare this year, the sacrifices must be remembered.
“They gave the ultimate gift for our freedom,” he said. “It’s so important that we revive our national pride. We need to keep that flame glowing.”
Willis Beck, one of the few spectators at the cemetery on Saturday, recalled the history of Memorial Days past in Oak Grove Cemetery.
“I remember coming here as a teenager, with Spanish-American War veterans here,” Beck said.
Keynote speaker Fred Matthews spoke of the 1.1 million men and women who have died defending the nation, and the 2.8 million left wounded or missing.
“We are humbled by their sacrifices,” said Matthews, a retired captain in the U.S. Navy and an attorney in Bowling Green.
“They were loved. They were mourned. They were missed,” he said.
Matthews’ family has served the nation for generations. His father, Harry Matthews, served during World War II in the Pacific theater and with the Navy Seabees until retiring in 1965.
When age 12, Matthews remembered his brother leaving to serve in Vietnam. He returned home safely.
“Our family was spared the dreaded telegram, the middle of the night phone call, the chaplain at the door,” he said.
Fred Matthews was commissioned into the United States Naval Reserve in 1980, and trained as a Naval officer and a Judge Advocate General. Following training, he served at the Naval Legal Service Office Submarine Base as a defense counsel, prosecutor, and senior counsel, and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Upon release from active duty, 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. He served as both a commanding officer and executive officer of two different reserve units.
One of Fred and Jeanne Matthews’ children, Eric, served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Matthews told the story of Doris Miller, and his bravery while serving the U.S. Navy in Pearl Harbor. Miller, who was black, was only allowed to serve in the ship’s laundry and galley. However, when a torpedo hit the ship, he carried many wounded men to safety, then manned an anti-aircraft gun that he had never been trained to use.
Miller left only when ordered to abandon ship, Matthews said. He was the first black man to be awarded the Navy Cross for Valor, and to have an aircraft carrier named in his honor.
Matthews asked people to remember that for Navy personnel and families, the loss is often different than other branches.
“Their remains often don’t come back,” he said, noting that many are entombed in ships sunk thousands of miles away.
“Remember the sailors buried in the sea,” he said. “We are able to be here today” because of their sacrifices in the past.
Matthews also recognized the current heroic acts of civilians – of first responders, doctors, nurses and others against the coronavirus pandemic.
The service Saturday had many of the regular elements – the reading of General Logan’s Orders by John Fawcett, the recitation of the Gettysburg Address by Mayor Mike Aspacher, the singing of the Star Spangled Banner by Evie Van Vorhis, and the playing of Taps by BGHS band members Kate Tretter and Nolan Miller.
