While many of their faces have long been forgotten, the names of the 124 veterans buried in the Rural Dale Cemetery are recalled each year in a tradition that has spanned over a century.
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While many of their faces have long been forgotten, the names of the 124 veterans buried in the Rural Dale Cemetery are recalled each year in a tradition that has spanned over a century.
On Sunday morning, the members of the Rural Dale Baptist Church continued the tradition of calling out the names of the veterans buried in the cemetery located adjacent to the church. As the congregation, both young and old, moved through the cemetery, led by the American and Christian flags, the names of each veteran and the war in which they served, were called. Members of the congregation then placed flowers on each of the veterans? graves.
According to Paul Jackson, a long-time church member who led this year?s service, the veterans in Rural Dale Cemetery include those who served in the Civil War, the Mexican War, American Expeditionary Force (who went into Europe prior to the declaration of war in World War I), World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War.
After the walk through the cemetery, a prayer was said at a replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier followed by ?Taps? played by bugler Kyle Harkins.
The program continued indoors, where the origin of ?Taps? was told by Jackson, who said a Union Army captain found the song in the pocket of his deceased son, who had secretly joined Confederate forces. The song was first played by a lone bugler at the funeral service for the son, a music student who had written the melody. Bud Cox shared the poem ?Freedom Is Not Free? before Kendra Foster recited ?The Gettysburg Address?.
Members of the congregation remarked that the number of veterans buried in the cemetery grows with each passing year. Although some of them have been gone from the Earth for more than a century, the tradition at Rural Dale ensures that at least once each year, their names and their sacrifice, will be recalled.