Taylorstown honors the fallen

By Robert Talbot

On Memorial Day, the community of Taylorstown gathered at the Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church cemetery for an annual ceremony to honor those who served their country and especially those killed in action. The program featured armed salutes with period firearms and processions to the graves of soldiers who died in combat, performed each year by local youth.

The tradition of youth involvement began 15 years ago. Dave Whitmer, a military history devotee and town resident who trains the team, explains that the American Legion had been running Memorial Day salutes at the cemetery until it lacked the resources to keep going. After throwing together a last-minute program of his own that year, he found that it could be enhanced by having youth participate and showcasing a little bit of history. “I devised that for the next year I was going to have youth do it, and that I would borrow [historical] guns from people I knew in order to walk up through history.”

The ceremony is an opportunity to instill a sense of responsibility in the youth. “They learn gun safety first,” Whitmer says. “Then they are reinforced [throughout the training] that they have a particular behavior that is expected of them, which all revolves around gun safety. It becomes a routine. It becomes a habit. It becomes a built-in skill.”

The period firearms provide opportunities for learning history and gaining appreciation for the men who carried them into battle. “It becomes close to home . . . it becomes a live history class,” Whitmer says. Sarah Hart, a youth who has participated in the ceremony for six years, affirms the educational aspect of the training. “We learn the history of the guns and about the people who used them and the wars they were in. It’s more powerful to know who you’re honoring.”

Some of the individual firearms have unique stories, like the Austrian-made rifle that was nearly destroyed in the Civil War, and the American-made rifle that was leased to civilians in Great Britain during WWII for fear of a homeland invasion.

This year’s ceremony included a speech from Brent Feito of the Army Historical Foundation on the town’s Civil War history. It also included the reading of names of soldiers from Taylorstown who died in combat, and special processions to honor the graves of those buried at the cemetery.

The processions are a highlight each year. “When they read the names of those who are buried at the cemetery,” Hart explains, “the sergeant of arms takes a group and marches them to the grave, with a weapon from that war period, dog tags, and a helmet. The gun is mounted on its bayonet in front of the grave, and the helmet and dog tags are placed on the gun to identify him.”

New this year, the processions feature a “flower brigade” of children invited from the audience. Whitmer says that the processions “add a very emotional piece to the ceremony, calling out the individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice for us. You learn the extent to which the Taylorstown community rose to the call of duty. It creates dialogue between parents and children as to why we do this and the significance of it.”

Much work goes on behind the scenes. Whitmer says that researching which veterans are buried at the cemetery was a chief difficulty the first few years and is a work that continues today. “People who have the details come to me and say ‘Hey, you forgot so-and-so!’ Because of community feedback, I’ve learned of more soldiers from Taylorstown who were killed in action. The program has brought to light some history that would otherwise be oral, but now gets documented.”

Incorporating a team of youth into Taylorstown’s Memorial Day ceremony has proved a worthwhile endeavor. “I never really thought about Memorial Day before I joined the team,” Hart says. “This makes it more important; not just some random holiday.” Whitmer recognizes the value—it instills in them a sense of respect, appreciation, and patriotism. “The youth are our future leaders. They’re worth investing in.”