By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON
The Memorial Weekend was observed at the Ocean Shores Convention Center Saturday when Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from multiple troops were on hand as members of VFW Post 8956 raised the colors during the annual Grays Harbor Expo. A Veterans Memorial Ceremony followed inside, with “Pastor Bob” Hoim emceeing the event and leading a standing room only crowd in singing “God Bless America.”
Local veteran and author Bill Vandenbush spoke, telling folks, “Every time I come to this ceremony, it seems like the audience gets bigger and bigger. It warms my heart that people care enough to come out on a beautiful day and sit here and honor those who have fallen in service of our country.”
Vandenbush himself was very nearly among the fallen, having been so gravely wounded in Vietnam, that he had a near-death experience, which he later detailed in his book, “If Morning Never Comes.”
Saturday afternoon, he reminded the crowd that our nation was founded by immigrants “from all over the world, people from all cultures, all races, all religious beliefs and all sexual orientations. They came here because they were promised freedom.”
He observed that the group a few minutes earlier had recited the Pledge of Allegiance and noted that “the last line of the pledge is ‘liberty and justice for all.’
“For all,” he stressed. “Many, many men and women have died in service to our country… so that we can sit here today, free from tyranny, free from oppression.
“So, when we honor these people who have given everything… we also need to honor what they fought for, what they died for. They died for freedom. They died to prevent the kind of tyranny that the founding fathers escaped… they died so that we could live with liberty and justice, for all.”
Following Vandenbush’s comments, Shaun Beebe, known to many as the local Code Enforcement officer, performed his original song, “Carved in Stone,” which he has said “is dedicated to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Post members also collaborated on a “Battlefield Cross” ceremony and read the names of those members who have passed away in the last year.
