Wayland 2024 Memorial Day Ceremony Highlights Scout Troop

WAYLAND, MA — The upcoming Memorial Day ceremony in Wayland is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The Wayland 2024 Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony of Remembrance on Monday is the highlight of the three-day Memorial Day Weekend — May 25-27 this year.

For this year's parade, Scouts of America Troop 1 Chair Matthew Karpacz will serve as Grand Marshal to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the troop. The traditional Ceremony of Remembrance will take place at Lakeview Cemetery.

Here's more from a news release:

The Wayland Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony of Remembrance hosted by the Wayland Public Ceremonies Committee will be held Monday. The parade will step off from the Wayland Middle School at 11 a.m. and proceed along Main Street (Route 27) to Commonwealth Road (Route 30) and end at Lakeview Cemetery in Cochituate. This year’s parade Grand Marshal will be Wayland resident Matthew Karpacz, Chair of Troop 1 Wayland Scouts of America. Troop 1 will have a special float in the parade to commemorate their 100th anniversary.

Wayland’s Ceremony of Remembrance will follow at the conclusion of the parade in Lakeview Cemetery at approximately 11:30 a.m. The ceremony will honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation.

This year’s ceremony will feature a number of speakers, including a reading of the Gettysburg Address by Wayland High School junior Alexander Irwin. The Keynote Address will be given by Lt. Col. Andrew Ballow, commander of Army Garrison Natick Soldier Systems Center.

The patriotic music program will be performed by the Wayland High School and Wayland Middle School bands. The Memorial Day Ceremony of Remembrance will conclude with the playing of Echo Taps, a Rifle Salute by the American Legion Post #133 Firing Detail, and Benediction given by the Rev. Rebecca Cho, Community United Methodist Church. In the event of rain, the parade will be canceled and the Memorial Day Ceremony of Remembrance will be held indoors, at 11 a.m. in the Wayland Middle School Gymnasium. We welcome all who can attend. We also invite those unable to attend in person to view the live recording of the Ceremony of Remembrance on WayCAM.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.