DOVER — Memorial Day has always been a day on which we feel a great sense of community.
The pandemic has challenged traditions. But thankfully, some events are back this year, offering friends and neighbors the opportunity to gather again and take time to remember those who died in service to our country.
The “togetherness” of veterans is always evident at the Memorial Day service at the Kent County Veterans Memorial Park in Dover.
This year’s program, organized by Kent County Chapter 850 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, starts at 2 p.m. Monday at the park on South Little Creek Road.
“Memorial Day brings people together,” said Dave Skocik, who will emcee the program. “It causes people to remember those who won’t be here with us, but in a sense, they are always with us.”
Last year, it had to be done virtually. In some Kent and Sussex communities again this year, the pandemic-related restrictions made it difficult to plan an event.
In the case of Milford, there will not be the traditional memorial program in Bicentennial Park.
However, the Milford Rotary’s “Flag for Heroes” display creates a nice place for a stroll among the waving stars and stripes and an opportunity to reflect on those lost.
The same is true for the Rotary’s Field of Flags at Delaware Technical Community College in Dover and on The Circle in Georgetown.
There were 400 flags placed by Dover Capital City Rotarians and Chapter 850 members at the DelTech location in less than an hour Thursday.
The Milford display is uniquely situated around a brick pathway that has military memorials as centerpieces. There is a tall marble monument that lists the names of 33 Milfordians, who “gave their lives in the cause of freedom.” At the top of the list is Paris T. Carlisle, who died in France in 1917 during World War I, and at the bottom is Richard C. Clifton, who died in Iraq in 2005.
Nearby, in honor of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a bronze “battlefield memorial” for troops who are killed in action: a rifle stuck in the ground with a helmet on its stock and a pair of boots.
Jeff Crouse, adjutant of American Legion Post 3 in Milford, said his organization participated in the “Flags for Heroes” display with one for each branch of the service. Members of the American Legion also placed flags at the graves of service members buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Milford’s ceremony, he said, was not possible because of the city’s restrictions at the time it would have been planned out.
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While compiling information for the Friday edition of our daily newsletter, “Daybreak,” a today-in-history item stood out.
On May 28, 1945, Richard Edward Prendergast was killed off Okinawa during a kamikaze attack. He was chief water tender, responsible for the steam power on the USS Drexler.
The USS Drexler was named for another Delawarean — Henry Clay Drexler, who was killed in a turret explosion on the USS Trenton in 1924.
Henry’s brother, Louis A. Drexler Jr., was killed by a sniper near Okinawa, 16 days before Petty Officer Prendergast’s death.
Petty Officer Prendergast and the Drexlers were from the Camden area. All three are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
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The Drexlers’ parents, World War I veteran Louis and Elizabeth, are buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Dover.
The family is one of many in the tribute Danny Waite has put together for the last several years. You can take a fascinating, self-guided walking tour of the cemetery from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Memorial Day.
Mr. Waite will lead one-hour guided tours at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday. They start at the flagpole.
Andrew West is executive editor of the Delaware State News.
