VFW holding annual Memorial Day service Saturday
The local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter is set to hold a Memorial Day service on its original day of remembrance.
The service will be held at Chief Tecopa Cemetery Saturday, May 30, and is slated to begin at 10 a.m.
“It’s a Memorial Day service that we do every year, our bylaws state that we have to do it on the actual Memorial Day which is the 30th of May,” said Tom Vicks, Commander of VFW Post 10054 in Pahrump.
There are five members featured in the memorial, and the service should be attended by 40 or 50 people according to Vicks. The entire service will last about an hour.
The first Memorial Day was held May 30, 1868, when flowers were planted at the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. The national day of remembrance was changed in 1971 at the federal level to be observed on the last Monday in May.
The practice, originally called Decoration Day until after World War II, is believed to have started during the American Civil War as a means of identifying the bodies on the battleground before they were removed.
Military historians say its purpose is to show honor and respect for the fallen at the battle site.
The Memorial Day federal holiday was celebrated Monday throughout Nye County with various services.
