By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — It only was about 40 minutes in length, but the May 24 Memorial Day ceremony was an appropriate mix of poignancy and pageantry — with a little bit of humor and entertainment thrown in, of which the fallen soldiers being celebrated and remembered would surely be proud.
They were soldiers paying the ultimate sacrifice in different military theaters, defending America and Americans and the freedoms and way of life that we enjoy.
After a stirring but solemn rendition of the National Anthem by Appalachian State University music major Caroline Goforth and introductory remarks by master of ceremonies Walt Ameika, an invocation led by St. Mary of the Hills’ Andrew Hege and a “welcome to town” by Blowing Rock Mayor Charlie Sellers, Ameika and Albert Yount, past commander of the Blowing Rock American Legion Post, read the names of 21 Blowing Rock natives who gave their lives in military service in various conflicts.
Local resident Hunt Broyhill introduced the event’s keynote speaker, Major General William S. Busby III, a much decorated pilot with the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard.
Busby was particularly effective in encouraging audience participation for those gathered in and immediately around the Rotary Gazebo in Memorial Park, the setting for the event. In his talk, Busby remembered several veterans who gave their lives in different wars and different conflict theaters, including World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Busby also fielded several questions from the audience, including about the jets periodically flying low level training runs between 100 and 300 feet above ground, between roughly the Shenandoah Valley and Columbia, S.C., on a path that includes Boone and Blowing Rock.
Caroline Goforth, the App State vocalist, closed the ceremony with an a cappella arrangement of “Taps.”
