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Let us honor our true heroes

By Staff | May 27, 2021

To the editor:

Coral Ridge Funeral Home & Cemetery, a Dignity Memorial provider in Cape Coral, will host our 40th Annual Memorial Day service at 10 a.m., Monday, May 31, in the Veterans Honor Garden located at 950 Chiquita Blvd S. The event is free and open to the public, with live webcast at https://servicewebcast.com/service/coral-ridge-funeral-home-memorial-day-ceremony .

The service will bring community leaders and veteran’s organizations together to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Juan Cordero, 1SG U.S. Army Ret., will serve as the Chaplain for the service. The Honorable John Gunter, mayor of Cape Coral, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance and read a proclamation from the city. Our special guests will include the Gold Star parents and families; these are individuals who have lost a child or sibling while serving. U.S. Army Vietnam veteran Roy St. Onge will perform patriotic songs. As program chair and a U.S. Air Force veteran, I will read the “roll call” of deceased veterans. Guest speakers will be J.(Mick) Sheldrake, Senior Chief U.S. Navy Ret; State Rep. Mike Giallombardo, District 77, U.S. Army veteran, and Warrant Officer in the Florida National Guard; and Margaret and Bill Eggers, Gold Star parents.

The annual Memorial Day observance is our way of saying “thank you” to the men and women who have served and who have sacrificed. We hope the families who join us for our remembrance service gain a deeper appreciation for the importance of honoring our military, whether it’s those currently serving or veterans who served in the past.

Additional activities will include the opportunity for family members to take a rubbing of their loved ones’ names on the Honor Wall; a Memorial Wreath presentation; a ceremonial fly-over by WWII era DC-3 aircraft from the Lee County Mosquito Control District; and a Motorcycle Ride-In by the American Legion and Patriot Guard Riders. The Vietnam Veterans of America Firebase Chapter 594, Combat Infantrymen’s Association, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Knights of Columbus Assembly 2115, Boy Scout of America Troop 8463, Troop 87 and Troop 4, Cub Scout Pack 82, Cape Coral Fire Department, Cape Coral Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office will also participate.

As chairman of the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program in Cape Coral, I also will speak on the need to honor and provide services for our homeless veterans.

As a local business employing veterans, and family members of veterans, we feel a much greater responsibility to honor the true heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our amazing country, and to assist their families through difficult times. To us, every day is Memorial Day. Let us honor these true heroes.”

Chuck Warren

Chairman of the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program in Cape Coral