Acknowledgment of a Passing of the Torch of Local Memorial Day Ceremonies to a Younger Generation

I asked our contributing writer Malcolm Barr Sr., a lifelong journalist and retired U.S. government public affairs officer, with a lifelong affection for animals, particularly dogs, that he has helped rescue and cared for most of his 91 years and counting, for a perspective on what he has indicated this year will be his last organizationally overseeing of the Dogs of War Garden Memorial Day weekend ceremony at the Humane Society of Warren County’s Julia Wagner Animal Shelter. Below is his response, reflecting on quite the local Memorial Day weekend personal history.

Following in the text and beyond is a pictorial account of the Saturday noon, May 25, Dogs of War Garden ceremony beginning with the bagpipe call of Jim Lundt flanked by Malcolm Barr Sr. and Kayla Wines to the left, as the R-MA Color Guard prepares, along with guests. Royal Examiner Still Photos Roger Bianchini, video by Mark Williams.

It might also be noted that when Barr and his late wife Carol retired to Front Royal in 2002, their son Malcolm Jr. attended and graduated from Randolph-Macon Academy, ultimately serving in Iraq with the U.S. Air Force – Glad you made it home, Malcolm Junior.

And God bless my friend, and our contributing writer, for his love of animals, especially dogs and dogs of service, and of those dogs of service and their handlers. And bless ALL veterans who have made war’s ultimate sacrifice when it was called upon to be given. And God Bless those lost-to-conflict veterans’ families and friends left behind to mourn their sacrifice.

Valley Chorale members open the ceremony with the Anthem and later added a stirring version of ‘Shenandoah’ among their offerings.

A Memorial Day weekend reflection by Malcolm Barr Sr.

More than a decade ago, the streets of Front Royal were silent on Memorial Day weekend. No ceremony, no salute to the fallen of all wars since the civil war, no bands playing, just a federal holiday weekend with folks taking advantage of store sales. For whatever reason, tributes to the fallen in Front Royal and Warren County had, in fact, fallen by the wayside.

Raised as a child in war-torn England through the years of World War II (1939-45), and serving in the Royal Air Force (UK) in a post-war “clean up” capacity (1951-54), I became deeply aware of the lives lost in that war, and subsequent wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, attending the traditional November 11 “Armistice Day” ceremonies in England, Canada and the United States.

My life as a journalist evolved from sports writing in England, to general assignment reporting in Canada, to military writing in America where I proudly covered from my post in Hawaii – home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the 25th Infantry Division, headquarters Pacific Air Forces, and the Fleet Marine Force Pacific – the activities of these forces during the decade of the 1960s when the Vietnam War heated up. I have before me now a program from the 189th Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel where I was honored to be a guest of the Marines, specifically Lt. Gen. Victor H. Krulak, who on that memorable evening pronounced me an “honorary Marine”, a title I’ve proudly carried with me through the last 60 years, many of them as a proud (associate) member of the U.S, Marine Corps Combat Correspondents’ Association.

Reporting for The Associated Press in the Pacific in 1966 I found myself assigned to a B-52 bomber flight over Cambodia from the distant Pacific island of Guam. I was bumped from the flight at the last minute, and found myself stranded several thousand miles from home base. What to do? I stopped by the 14th Naval District headquarters where a young public information officer volunteered to show me the island’s World War II dog cemetery. It involved a heated trek into the jungle, fighting our way with machetes in 90-plus degree heat through to a peaceful, though overgrown, glade where we uncovered the headstones of three of some 22 graves containing the remains of war dogs killed while on duty in the Pacific theater.

Keynote speaker, retired U.S. Marine dog handler and current R-MA staffer Christine George gave an emotional recounting of the human/K9 war-front-and-beyond bond.

As a lifetime lover of dogs, and active in dog rescue for many of those years, I wrote an article about the cemetery and its apparent abandonment that ran world-wide and caught the attention of the then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Subsequently, the cemetery was handed off to the U.S. Marine Corps that ultimately cleared the land and built a handsome memorial honoring the dogs and their contribution to the war effort. Reportedly, the cemetery and the memorial have become a popular tourist mecca, attracting thousands of visitors each year and many war dog memorials have cropped up both in the U.S. and in Europe, specifically in England, France, Belgium and Holland.

As a former president of the Humane Society of Warren County (HSWC), I approached the Front Royal Animal Shelter with a proposal to develop a memorial garden honoring the war dogs and their compatriots, the K-9s involved in local law enforcement, particularly since the first war dogs of World War II were sent into battle directly from their training facility in Front Royal. We opened the garden three years ago, honoring the dogs and their handlers on each Memorial Day weekend, including this past weekend where I officiated for the last time as my 92nd birthday approaches.

U.S. Marine Corps reservist Lt. Col. Robert MacDougall has taken over from me the regular Memorial Day ceremony, promising along with Able Forces Director “Skip” Rogers, to maintain the twin ceremonies honoring both the military men and women who lost their lives in fighting for their country, and the dogs that helped these brave men and women on the battlefield that also were killed in the line of duty. Both of these colleagues of mine were instrumental this year in organizing and sponsoring several Memorial Day weekend activities, which filled the entire weekend, at the Julia Wagner Animal Shelter (Dogs of War salute), the downtown Gazebo park (Salute to Service) and County Courthouse grounds.

Able Forces Veterans Assistance principal ‘Skip Rogers, also a retired military dog handler, lays the wreath in the War Dog Memorial Garden at the Humane Society of Warren County’s Wagner Animal Shelter.

For me, this was a bitter-sweet weekend in which I gave way to age, stepping back from active participation in the future, and thanking those who have helped put Memorial Day back on the map in Warren County. Those include the aforementioned two service veterans; the late Victor “Tory” Failmezger, a U.S. Navy veteran and local author of World War II books; the Town of Front Royal that sponsored the original Gazebo-area ceremonies prior to COVID; Randolph-Macon Academy; Fussell Florist; lay minister Michael Williams for his invocation; bagpiper Jim Lundt; and more lately the Valley Chorale; the current Wagner Animal Shelter staff and its executive director, Kayla Wines.

Thank you, everyone, and God Bless America and those who sacrifice all to preserve the ideals upon which it was built.

The R-MA Color Guard at attention as the Valley Chorale adds their voices to the ceremony once again. Hey, good job guys – Rob MacDougall and Christine George congratulate R-MA cadets on a Color Guard job well done.

A trip inside the Wagner Shelter for post-event catered snacks revealed these three patriotic residents waiting for the right ‘forever home’ visitor to find them.

And Malcolm was at both the Salute to Service event later Saturday co-sponsored by ‘Skip’ Rogers Able Forces; and as pictured here with Sheriff Crystal Cline and event host Rob MacDougall, at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Courthouse grounds Monday at noon as well. Courtesy Photo Jen Avery