It’s a day for mattress sales. A day off from school. A day to sleep in.
So two bus loads of teenagers with their handlers showed up by 8 a.m. Monday at Mt. Lebanon High School, put on their marching band uniforms, and assembled with their instruments at the nearby Veterans Memorial just off Cedar Drive for the municipality’s Memorial Day Program.
Several municipal workers were there, working, and so were several local elected officials, including Mt. Lebanon Commission President Steve Silverman, who served as host. Temple Emanuel of the South Hills Rabbi Aaron Meyer gave the invocation. The Mt. Lebanon Fire Department stood at attention in their dress uniforms, each one adorned with a red flower. The Mt. Lebanon Police presented the colors, and the band played the national anthem. Then it was quiet.
It’s a “solemn” day, Silverman said, a day when “we remember the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice” — dying while protecting and preserving what matters to the country.
He suggested that those in attendance take some time to read the names, listed on the program, of the about 100 Mt. Lebanon service members who have been killed in action from World War I through the Gulf War.
The main speaker, retired U.S. Army Col. Carmen DiGiacomo, said he remembers them. He remembers them when he spends time in nearby Bird Park, “the most beautiful place in Mt. Lebanon,” because he knows it’s named not for its plentiful fauna but for Thomas Arnold Bird, a Marine lieutenant who was killed in the Vietnam War.
He remembers when he drives on Morgan Drive, named for William David Morgan, who also died in that conflict. He remembers at Dixon Field, named for an FBI agent who was killed in the line of duty in 1994. “I think we would be remiss if we did not include the name of Martha Dixon.”
On a day for watching baseball games, and picnics, and walks in the parks, DiGiacamo encouraged others to remember, too.
“I say to you today that we remember our heroes all the time,” he said, “not just on Memorial Day.”
Whatever you’re doing, on any nice day, “Take a moment and let those with you know about a local hero.
“Their sacrifice is forever.”
A wreath was laid at the memorial.
Two trumpet players played taps.
Then the rest of the marching band boarded two buses for the drive to Brookline.
Because it’s also a day for a parade — the South Hills Memorial Day Parade from there back to Mt. Lebanon.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
