Co-chairman adds personal note to Front Royal’s Memorial Day event

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran who lost personal friends and colleagues in the days following 9/11 and the war in Iraq, added a personal and emotional touch to an announcement of details of Front Royal’s plans for a Memorial Day ceremony at the Gazebo on Monday, May 29.

“As a result of these losses (of friends serving in uniform), and knowing the spouses and children they left in their wake, the true meaning of Memorial Day became crystal clear,” said former USMC pilot Robert MacDougall before a Front Royal Rotary Club audience May 5.  “My calendar throughout the year is dotted with the names of those friends, and the anniversary of their passing.”

MacDougall will emcee this year’s Gazebo ceremony (noon – 1 p.m.) at which retired U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Tina Laing of Randolph-Macon Academy is the keynote speaker.  They will be joined by Front Royal Mayor Hollis Tharpe in laying the wreath of remembrance.

Co-Chair Robert MacDougall speaks at last year’s event. Photo/Roger Bianchini

Keynote speaker this year will be retired Air Force Tech Sgt. Tina Laing of R-MA. Courtesy Photo

Noting what he referred to as a “common misunderstanding” that Memorial Day is similar to Veteran’s Day (which honors all veterans) or the Fourth of July (which celebrates the nation’s independence), MacDougall observed, “Memorial Day is unique, unique in that it is a solemn remembrance; an opportunity to pay tribute to those that have died while engaged in military operations on behalf of our country.”

Also, MacDougall noted, despite being a Federal holiday, it is also very much a local remembrance.

“Front Royal has sent its sons and daughters to serve in uniform to fight across the globe and 362 of those citizen soldiers did not come home alive.  This is our local history and our local sacrifice in defense of freedom, and it can never be allowed to fall by the wayside.”

Which unfortunately for awhile it had.

After several years of Memorial Day being ignored in Front Royal, Rockland resident, our own Malcolm Barr, Sr., a retired military writer/journalist and veteran of Britain’s Royal Air Force, took the initiative in 2011 to return this solemn commemoration to Front Royal each year.  Perhaps pulling from his love of animals, dogs in particular, and a background as a past president of the Humane Society of Warren County, Barr also included a tribute to the ‘Dogs of War’ into the ceremony’s program.

And the canines recalling the service dogs of war are always an important part of Front Royal’s Memorial Day ceremony. Photo/Roger Bianchini

“This is a fitting addition, given that the U.S. War Dog program was established in Front Royal in 1943,” MacDougall said.  It might be noted that dogs increasingly are being used by the military and local law enforcement in the war against terrorism and other activities in this country and overseas.

Also, last December, Town Council took note of the citizen-driven ceremony and agreed to co-sponsor the event, thereby giving its official seal of approval.  Other co-sponsors are the Air Force Association, Warren County Rotary Club and the Humane Society of Warren County.

MacDougall ended his talk with a plea – for stories of those from Warren County who have died in the nation’s wars, stories that can be told by the families of the fallen. Event details and updates can be found on Facebook and Twitter at the handle @FRMemorialDay or information may be emailed to – barr127@yahoo.com