APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – The 2nd Annual Appleton Cemetery Veteran Salute Tour will roll through town on Sunday. The Scarlet Guard American Legion Color Guard organized the tour as a collaboration with other local veteran service organizations.
“The cemetery salute tour actually started last year as a result of COVID and there not being a Memorial Day parade or live ceremony last year,” said Chairman Eric Stadler. “We still needed to do something at the cemetery to salute the veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice, so we came up with the idea to do a tour to the various cemeteries throughout the city of Appleton.”
Stadler says it gives them an opportunity to make sure veterans at all cemeteries are saluted each year, and to make sure they’re never forgotten.
“We’ll be doing the same sequence of salutes for each of the locations. We invite the public to come out to be part of those salutes and witness them,” Stadler told WTAQ News. “We’ll be adhering to all of the normal traffic laws. It’s not an organized or formal parade or convoy, it’s just a procession of all of those participating going from cemetery to cemetery.”
A joint veteran service organization color guard and rifle squad will fall into formation at each cemetery. A memorial wreath will be presented, a short prayer will be recited, and a rifle salute and the playing of Taps will conclude the honors performed by the contingent. The group will process to each cemetery as a convoy with patriotically decorated vehicles.
More than 20 veterans and auxiliary members from a number of different veterans service organizations are expected to take part. The public is welcomed to attend the salutes at the various cemeteries and are encouraged to line the streets involved in the procession between cemeteries. The salutes at each cemetery are estimated to last ten to fifteen minutes along with a time for reflection.
The following is a list of the cemeteries that will be visited and the times involved:
- 12:00 PM @ Riverside Cemetery (714 N. Owaissa St.) … step off at 11:30 AM from entrance
- 12:15 PM @ The American Legion plot (Located within Riverside Cemetery at the inside entrance of St. Joseph Cemetery)
- 12:45 PM @ Moses Montefiore Cemetery (E. Woodland Ave.)
- 1:15 PM @ Highland Memorial Park (3131 N. Richmond St.)
- 2:00 PM @ St. Mary Cemetery (2121 W. Prospect Ave.)
More information can be found on the event Facebook page.
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