BOZEMAN - This year's Annual Memorial Day Parade will begin on Main street in Bozeman at 9:30 am, followed by a powerful dedication and unveiling of a special marble monument at Sunset Hills Cemetery.
Respect. Honor. Remember - Three words that immediately came to mind when Len Albright thought of Memorial Day.
“The biggest thing, remember our veterans that we’ve lost in all of the wars,” Albright, Commander of American Legion Post 14 said.
Memorial Day events begin Wednesday, May 25th at The Legion at 7 pm, a bingo night, followed by the community posting flags on each veteran's grave at Sunset Hills Cemetery at 9 am on Thursday, May 26th.
“We will put 2,600 flags on gravesites throughout the cemetery,” Frank Harriman, Adjutant with American Legion Post 14.
Sunset hills will be adorned with thousands of flags, and Main Street will have 90 flags placed up and down the street. Last year, there were 41 entries in the Memorial Day parade, this year there are 51 entries.
Leading the Parade will be Gold Star Families, who lost a member of their family in war. Following the parade route, the families will be driven to Sunset Hills Cemetery, behind the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall to see the unveiling of the Gold Star Family Memorial Monument.
“It’s absolutely beautiful, pictures don’t do this thing one bit of good. I'll tell you when you see, it’s unbelievable,” Albright said.
Every state in the country has placed a Gold Star Family Memorial Monument, to honor families of fallen soldiers, except Montana. That has now changed and will be on display on Memorial Day.
