Veterans, family members and friends remembered on Memorial Day

MOSES LAKE — Family members stood in a semicircle and recited a prayer at one end of Pioneer Memorial Cemetery Monday, while at the other end the Veterans of Foreign Wars remembered veterans with a Memorial Day prayer, “Taps” and a rifle salute.  

Jean Ferguson said she too wanted to pay tribute to family members who have died. “Just remembering,” she said. 

Ferguson and her son Tim Mathes laid flowers at the grave of her late husband. The cemetery was dotted with people leaving floral tributes for family and friends. Throughout the cemetery people were explaining who those relatives and friends were to curious children who never met them. 

Memorial Day began as a way to remember military personnel who died during while in the service, but over time it grew into a way to remember all family members and friends. The walkways were busy with people leaving tributes.  

Paulette Rivera spoke about her father, a World War II veteran, during the VFW ceremony. He never talked much about the war or about his time in the military, she said, but family members did some research after he died. 

“When we were told where he was, and what he did, our hearts were full,” she said. 

American flags lined the walkways through the cemetery, and flags were placed at veterans’ graves. Brian Dover, his wife, and daughter, Octavia, came to pay their respects. Brian Dover said he has family and friends who have served in the military or are serving now. 

Fil Rivera, commander of VFW Post 24, Quincy, and VFW district commander, said remembrance matters. “I think we need to remember all those that sacrificed for our way of life.” 

    American flags flutter in the breeze at Pioneer Memorial cemetery on Memorial Day.
  

    Fil Rivera, commander of the Veterans Foreign Wars Post 24 in Quincy, remembers his fellow military veterans during a Memorial Day ceremony at Pioneer Memorial.