Memorial Day: Exhibits at National Veterans memorial highlight Greater Columbus offerings

There was a somber silence last week inside the National Veterans Memorial and Museum as the museum debuted two of its Memorial Day-themed exhibitions.

Until it was broken by a single question: "What's an IED?"

The question about improvised explosive devices from a contemplative student came as a group walked through the "Eyes of Freedom" traveling exhibition, which commemorates the 22 Marines and one Navy corpsman killed in action during the Columbus-based Lima Company's deployment in 2005 during the war in Iraq.

Created in 2008 by then-Westerville resident Anita Miller, the exhibition that will run through Memorial Day was originally unveiled at the Statehouse on Memorial Day that year. Miller now lives in Lyons, Colorado.

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It is comprised of eight large panels with life-sized portraits of those killed, as well as candles, plaques with their names, and a pair of combat boots in front of each portrait.

"It's almost like they could walk right off the painting," said Mike Strahle, executive director of the project, scheduling tours and events.

A Westerville resident, he was one of the Lima Company soldiers who was wounded in 2005.

"At the beginning, when I was taking over for Anita, it was very, very difficult to be around these portraits, just because she did an amazing job accurately depicting them in life-size as well," he said.

Directly across the hall is the USAA Poppy Wall of Honor, which aims to explain why poppies have been synonymous with veterans since World War I. It will be at the museum through June 12.

By waving their hands in front of a screen, guests can interact with digital poppies, representing those who have died in military service. The poppies will then shift to reveal facts about military conflicts, coupled with quotes about those conflicts and those who have died.

During World War I, poppies were a symbol of remembrance, thanks to the 1915 poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae.

"Every year, USAA holds a ceremony internally on Memorial Day. Our creative team came up with the idea for this wall, the poppy. We did it again in 2017, and it was so inspiring and so impactful that we wanted to get it out to the public," said retired Navy Vice Admiral John Bird, senior vice president of military affairs for USAA.

"The poppy is simple, but it makes me think about all the men and women who are willing to die in service of their country, so we may enjoy freedom."

The museum will provide programming throughout Memorial Day weekend, ranging from jiu-jitsu training to a motorcycle gathering Saturday.

A candlelight vigil for Gold Star families will be held Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Families will walk in procession down the museum ramp from the rooftop sanctuary through the museum's Memorial Grove to the Battlefield Cross monument. A short commemorative program will be held with a "roll call" followed by families placing a flower in the grove to remember loved ones.

A final ceremony will take place on Memorial Day at 10 a.m. on the museum's rooftop, with Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., Ohio's adjutant general, and Cheryl Mason, chairman of the Board of Veterans Appeals delivering remarks.

Admission to the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, 300 W. Broad St., is free Memorial Day weekend, Saturday through Monday. Typically, it is $17 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $12 for college students, $10 for ages 5 to 17, and free for ages 4 and younger. It is free to U.S. military veterans, active-duty military and Gold Star families. Call 614-362-2800 or visit nationalvmm.org for more information.

What other Memorial Day events will take place in Greater Columbus?

Other Memorial Day events will be taking place throughout the holiday weekend in Greater Columbus.

In Dublin, a ceremony and luncheon are scheduled to begin Monday at 11 a.m. with a procession through historic Dublin beginning at Riverside Crossing Park, and a wreath ceremony at the Dublin Link. A ceremony will begin at Dublin Cemetery, 83 W. Bridge St., at 11:30 a.m., and will lead to a community picnic lunch at Monterey Park.

Westerville's Field of Heroes event will be held from Friday to Monday, sponsored by the Sunrise Rotary Club of Westerville. The field of 3,000 American flags will be displayed 24 hours a day and lit each night at the Westerville Sports Complex, 325 Cleveland Ave.

On Saturday at 7 p.m., the Westerville Concert Band will perform at the Field of Heroes. The next morning at 8, the Field of Heroes 5K run and walk begins at the Westerville Sports Complex. The event is limited to 1,200 participants.

Later that evening, the Voices of Westerville program will honor those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during wartime. It will include storytelling from veterans and music as well as remarks from Westerville Mayor Diane Conley.

In Grove City, a Memorial Day event begins Monday at 11 a.m. when a parade will step off from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 3730 Broadway, and continue down Broadway, with a short ceremony at City Hall. The parade will continue to Grove City Cemetery for a service.

"We're expecting probably 1,000 to 2,000 along the parade route," Mayor Richard "Ike" Stage said.

The city of Worthington also will be holding its annual parade on Memorial Day. Starting at 10 a.m., it will be in full form for the first time since 2019, Anne Brown, city communications director, said.

The parade will begin at Dublin-Granville Road and Morning Street and proceed down High Street to Cemetery Drive, with a service being held upon the parade's conclusion at Walnut Grove Cemetery, 5561 Milton Ave.

In Groveport, a parade will begin Memorial Day at 1:30 p.m. at Groveport Town Hall, 648 Main St., concluding at Groveport Cemetery. This will lead into a ceremony displaying 12 banners that honor active duty military personnel or veterans from Groveport. Sean McCarthy, assistant director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, will serve as guest speaker.

Ceremonies in Canal Winchester are set to begin Monday at 10:30 a.m. at Union Grove Cemetery, 400 Winchester Cemetery Rd., featuring keynote speaker Maj. Thomas Whiteman, wing chaplain of the 121st Air Refueling Wing at the Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base. There will be a flag retirement ceremony hosted by local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts afterward.

Grandview Heights' parade is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m., stepping off from First and Cambridge avenues and proceeding east to Oxley Road.

What is Memorial Day and why do we celebrate it?

Originally called Decoration Day, Monday's holiday honors all soldiers who died during service to the nation, according to USA TODAY.

Memorial Day was declared a national holiday through an act of Congress in 1971, and its roots date back to the Civil War era, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Unlike Veterans Day, Memorial Day honors all military members who have died in while serving in U.S. forces.

The origins of the holiday can be traced back to local observances for Confederate soldiers with neglected gravesites during the Civil War.

One of the first Declaration Days was held in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 25, 1866 by women who decorated graves of Confederate soldiers who perished in the battle at Shiloh with flowers.

On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, the tradition of placing flowers on veterans’ graves was continued by the establishment of Decoration Day by an organization of Union veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic.

General Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first large observance, a crowd of about 5,000 people, at  Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on May 30, 1873. The orphaned children of soldiers and sailors killed during the war placed flowers and small American flags atop both Union and Confederate graves throughout the entire cemetery.

Until World War I, Civil War soldiers were solely honored on this holiday. Now, all Americans who’ve served are observed.

USA Today reporter Camille Fine contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus area Memorial Day ceremonies and events