On Monday, Cindy Compton brought a bouquet of artificial flowers to her husband’s grave in the military section of Gotha’s Woodlawn Cemetery, as she does almost every month.
This time she shared the usually gloomy grounds with a crowd of about 400 others. They came to honor the nation’s war dead during a Memorial Day service – the cemetery’s 74th.
Compton’s husband Bill – “Pop Pop” to his grandchildren – died on March 11, 2016 from health complications she said were caused by exposure to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. The US military used it during the Vietnam War to clear jungles where enemy operations remained hidden.
“He got sprayed with it,” she said of her husband being called into service.
The 74-year-old was comforted by the festive celebration, which included a speech from Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, a brassy performance from the 70-member Orlando Concert Band and a 21-gun salute by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department honor guard .
Compton said she believes the country sometimes takes for granted the sacrifices of its military personnel and their families.
The origins of the solemn holiday, once known as “Decoration Day” because of the custom of placing flowers or other decorations on graves of fallen soldiers, date back to the 1860s when Civil War survivors sought a fitting way to honor the sacrifices of the dead to commemorate. Congress formally changed the name in 1967.
Demings thanked the crowd for skipping the beaches and postponing barbecues to pay tribute to those who died serving the U.S. armed forces. He quoted from a 2011 Memorial Day speech by President Barack Obama at Arlington National Cemetery.
“Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice, and we must,” the 44th president said. “We must honor it in our own lives by holding their memories close to our hearts and by heeding the example they set.”
Keynote speaker, Lake County Tax Collector Carey Baker, served 31 years in the Army National Guard. While serving in the Florida House of Representatives in 2003, he became the first state or federal elected official to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom while in office.
He gave his address in uniform.
“It is our deep responsibility as Americans to express our gratitude to those who, when the nation called, responded with courage, courage and determination,” he said. Baker noted that more than one million American soldiers, sailors, Marines and other military personnel have given their lives for the nation.
Organizers recognized two Central Florida families who recently lost sons in service to their country. They released white doves into the sky.
shudak@orlandosentinel.com
