Front Royal Honors the Fallen During Memorial Day Ceremony on Courthouse Lawn

A light drizzle fell over Front Royal on Memorial Day, but it did little to thin the crowd gathered on the Warren County Courthouse lawn.

Several hundred people stood and sat beneath gray skies Monday for Front Royal’s annual Memorial Day Commemoration, a solemn community tribute to the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. The rain came and went, enough to dampen jackets and programs, but not enough to quiet the purpose of the day.

Marine veteran and Warren County resident Jim Lundt opens Front Royal’s 2026 Memorial Day Commemoration with bagpipes on the Warren County Courthouse lawn. Photo by Roger Bianchini.

Skip Rogers, left, and Lt. Col. Rob MacDougall. Photo by Jim Hale.

Robert MacDougall, who co-chaired the ceremony with Skip Rogers, opened the program by welcoming the crowd and reminding those gathered why they had come.

“We gather today to acknowledge, remember, and honor those who gave their life in defense of our country,” MacDougall said. “It is important to emphasize that we are not honoring anonymous numbers or tabulations of battlefield losses. We are honoring real individuals whose last breath was in service to America.”

MacDougall, a Marine veteran who served 12 years on active duty and 12 years in the Marine Corps Reserve, also recognized Rogers, who served as an Army dog handler from 1968 to 1979 and later founded Able Forces Foundation to support veterans. Together, the two helped lead a ceremony built around remembrance, gratitude, and personal responsibility.

“As we approach America’s 250th birthday,” MacDougall said, “we know that the freedom and prosperity we enjoy would not be the same if not for the sacrifices made and suffered by those in uniform across generations.”

Father Brian McAllister, parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and a former U.S. Army officer, offers the invocation during Front Royal’s 2026 Memorial Day Commemoration on the Warren County Courthouse lawn. Photo by Jim Hale.

Father Brian McAllister, parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and a former U.S. Army officer who served in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, offered the invocation. Standing before the crowd, he prayed for those who had made the ultimate sacrifice and for the nation they served.

“Heavenly Father, we bow our heads now in an observed silence for those who have offered their lives in service of our country and our great nation by serving in the armed forces and making the ultimate sacrifice,” McAllister prayed.

He asked God to bless and guide the nation, protect its armed forces, and “be their ready consolation in the desolation of war.”

“No one is drawn more closely to the intimate bonds of friendship than brothers in arms,” he said.

Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 52 post the colors during Front Royal’s 2026 Memorial Day Commemoration on the Warren County Courthouse lawn. Below, the scouts hold their salute as Gracie, Laney, and Ella Clark lead the national anthem. Photos by Mike McCool.

Gracie, Laney, and Ella Clark of Front Royal led the crowd in the national anthem. Photo by Jim Hale

Boy Scout Troop 52 posted the colors, and sisters Gracie, Laney, and Ella Clark of Front Royal led the crowd in the national anthem. MacDougall thanked them for a “beautifully done” performance before recognizing local leaders and community members in attendance.

Among those recognized were Virginia State Delegate Delores Oates of the 31st District, Warren County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Cheryl Cullers, supervisors John Stanmeyer and Richard Jamieson, Front Royal Mayor Lori Cockrell, and Front Royal Town Manager Joe Petty. MacDougall also thanked Scoutmaster Brady Boyer and Scouts Sean Taggart, Zachary Martz, Matthew Pugh, Spencer Neal, Russell Ryan, Ryan Ure, Caden Smith-Washburn, Aaron Urr, Henry Knapek, Graham Knapek, and Holden Knapek. He recognized Katie Bennett and Fussell Florist for donating the wreath for the 14th consecutive year, Marine veteran and bagpiper Jim Lundt, the Royal Examiner for coverage of the commemoration, and Malcolm Barr, who renewed the Front Royal Memorial Day observance 14 years ago.

Skip Rogers, Malcolm Barr, and Rob MacDougall. Photo by Roger Bianchini.

Rogers then spoke about the meaning of the holiday, placing Front Royal’s observance within a long national tradition that began after the Civil War.

“Front Royal, like each small town or big city across America, pauses on this last Monday in May to specifically honor, remember, and stand grateful for those who have given their lives in military service,” Rogers said.

He reminded the crowd that Memorial Day should not be treated as only a day off, a long weekend, or the unofficial start of summer.

“Today is not about the end of the three-day weekend or a special sale at our stores,” Rogers said. “It’s about acknowledging, remembering, and honoring the human toll that’s been taken to protect the United States of America and our way of life.”

Guest of honor Dick Mason, a longtime Front Royal resident, Marine veteran, and Vietnam Huey gunship pilot, delivers his Memorial Day address on the Warren County Courthouse lawn. Photo by Jim Hale.

This year’s guest of honor was longtime Front Royal resident Dick Mason, a Marine veteran and former UH-1E Huey gunship pilot who served in Vietnam. Mason was born in Des Moines, Iowa, grew up on a farm, graduated from Iowa State University in 1968, and later moved to Front Royal in 1987, where he opened an Edward Jones Investments office and worked for 32 years.

Mason stepped forward in a jacket, noting that the weather had made the choice a good one.

“I anticipated that it might rain today, so I came with a jacket,” Mason said. “I’ve had it on and off several times, but I see it was a good decision. It’s always good to start the day with the right decision.”

His message was direct: Make a difference.

“No matter who you are, what you do, I’ve always made it a point to try to do something good for somebody, something nice every day,” Mason said. “And that’s in honor of those people who are not here today, who couldn’t be here today.”

Mason traced the roots of public remembrance back to ancient Greece and the statesman Pericles, then forward to post-Civil War observances in Charleston, South Carolina; Waterloo, New York; and the establishment of Memorial Day as a federal holiday. He spoke not only as a historian, but as a veteran carrying memories of men he had known and lost.

“Those of you who might have PTSD, you probably think about it every day,” Mason said. “I know I do. It doesn’t leave you. It’s fitting that somebody recognizes it at least once a year. All of us should.”

He named friends and fellow Marines: Hank Sheldon, Henry Dubling, Colonel Leftwich, Jerry Merkliner, and Ronnie Yale. He recalled the loss of Colonel William G. Leftwich. Jr., during an effort to rescue a team of wounded Third Force Recon Marines in Vietnam, describing rain, fog, darkness, and a mission that ended in tragedy.

“We lost the helicopter, the crew, the colonel, 13 in total,” Mason said. “I’ll never forget that day.”

He also remembered Hank Sheldon, a friend from flight training who was killed on Mason’s first day in-country, before he had even unpacked his sea bag.

Then Mason told the story of PFC Dan Bullock, believed to be the youngest American service member killed in the Vietnam War.

“Dan was a very patriotic young man, and he wanted to join the Marine Corps and fight for America,” Mason said. “Dan Bullock was 14 years old when he joined the Marine Corps, 15 years old when killed in combat.”

Mason said he often wonders what those who died might have done with the years they never had.

“It makes me sad to think about it, what they could have been, what they might have been,” he said.

His closing thought returned to the same challenge with which he began.

“Make a difference,” Mason said. “Do something to make your country, even your family, your community stronger, but make a difference.”

Singer-songwriter Marie Miller of Rappahannock County performs during Front Royal’s 2026 Memorial Day Commemoration on the Warren County Courthouse lawn. Photo by Jim Hale.

Singer-songwriter Marie Miller of Rappahannock County then performed for the crowd. MacDougall introduced her as an accomplished musician whose career has included touring with Five for Fighting and sharing a stage with Andrea Bocelli and Aretha Franklin during a performance for Pope Francis before a live audience of 750,000 people.

After Miller’s performance, the ceremony turned to the cost of freedom in the present day. MacDougall reminded the crowd that American service members remain engaged in high-risk operations worldwide.

Robert MacDougall reminds the crowd that Memorial Day honors those who did not return home, saying America’s freedom “has been purchased at a tremendous human price.” Photo by Jim Hale.

“This freedom we can all be guilty of taking for granted has been purchased at a tremendous human price,” he said. “It is important to recognize that the sacrifice of many in uniform is not merely a relic of past wars; it is a sacrifice that continues to be made to keep America continuously prepared and protected.”

He said Memorial Day is different from the Fourth of July and Veterans Day. It is the day set aside for those who did not come home.

“Today we specifically honor the men and women who are no longer here with us,” MacDougall said. “Those that are not here to thank in person.”

This year’s ceremony gave special recognition to 13 service members lost during Operation Epic Fury in 2026. Their names were read aloud before the wreath-laying ceremony: Major John Klinner, Captain Ariana Savino, Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons, Technical Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, Captain Seth Koval, Captain Curtis Angst, Sergeant Declan Coady, Captain Cody Khork, Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor, Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, Major Jeffrey O’Brien, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, and Sergeant Benjamin Pennington.

Scouts from Troop 52, Front Royal Mayor Lori Cockrell, Town Manager Joe Petty, and Warren County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Cheryl Cullers take part in the solemn wreath-laying ceremony honoring 13 service members lost during Operation Epic Fury. Photo by Jim Hale.

“At this time, we honor these 13 fallen service members with a solemn laying of the wreath,” MacDougall said.

Scouts from Troop 52, Mayor Lori Cockrell, Town Manager Joe Petty, and Chairwoman Cheryl Cullers took part in the wreath ceremony. The gesture was quiet and formal, a moment that brought the names just spoken into the center of the day’s remembrance.

Taps followed.

Then the colors were retired.

Skip Rogers closes Front Royal’s 2026 Memorial Day Commemoration by urging the community to support wounded service members and the families of those who never came home. Photo by Roger Bianchini.

Rogers closed the ceremony by asking those in attendance to carry the day’s meaning beyond the courthouse lawn.

“Freedom and security are achieved and maintained at a high price,” Rogers said. “Please do what you can to support the service members who have come home with injuries seen and unseen, and families of service members who didn’t come home.”

He urged the crowd to cherish each day of freedom and to remind others of the true meaning of Memorial Day.

“It is both a day to mourn and to celebrate the courageous sacrifices that have been made to protect our way of life,” Rogers said.

He also challenged the community to live in a way that honors those sacrifices.

“Strive to be a citizen worth defending,” Rogers said. “Do what you can to make sure that the town of Front Royal, our state of Virginia, and our country remains a place with the ideals worth defending.”

Several hundred people gather on the Warren County Courthouse lawn for Front Royal’s 2026 Memorial Day Commemoration, standing together through a light drizzle to honor America’s fallen service members. Photos by Jim Hale.

As the ceremony ended, MacDougall thanked the crowd once more for coming, especially in the rain.

“I second Skip’s appreciation for making the effort, especially with the weather, for coming out here, being present, getting wet, and supporting Memorial Day in Front Royal,” he said.

The drizzle still hung in the air as people began to leave the courthouse lawn. Some paused near the wreath. Others spoke quietly with veterans, scouts, neighbors, and friends. The weather had been imperfect, but the message was clear.

Front Royal remembered.

Special thanks to Royal Examiner videographer Mark Williams for capturing the ceremony.