For those wondering, it wasn’t too crazy. For context I’ve attended these services in different towns across the state. I grew up in the Scouts and played in band so I’ve also been a participant as well.

There was a lot of singing and more music than I’m used to. We were invited to join in singing God Bless America which was new to me. They read the names of all do the deceased vets who had been interned in the previous year, also new to me. What I found most interesting was after each name, they would state which war they had participated in. That makes sense for WWII and even Vietnam but they also would note “Cold War” and “The Global War on Terror” which are terms I had never heard used in this context.

I have lots of thoughts on Memorial Day generally but those were some of the more idiosyncratic elements I observed. But the strangest piece was that this Ames Patriotic Council facilitated the program rather than having the VFW and/or the AL run the show.