“It’s my civic duty:” attendees of Forest Hill Memorial Day ceremony remember veterans who have passed

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Forest Hill Cemetery held their annual Memorial Day ceremony Monday in honor of the men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military.

The ceremony meant a lot to Shari Goff, whose father served in World War II and the Korean War.

“It goes into my very heart, into my very soul,” Goff said. “I was only a young child when I lost my father.”

Goff said her grandfather and son also served.

In Madison and Dane County, 280 veterans have passed since the last Memorial Day, and the Madison Veterans Council sponsored the event in recognition of those veterans.

Stacey Weise has been attending the ceremony for six years. She says it is important to acknowledge those who have fallen and remember why we have this holiday.

“I think it’s my civic duty,” Weise said. “I think we need to take the time out to do such a thing because these people risked their lives for us and that is not something to just be pushed aside.”

Weise said there is a lot to appreciate about those who have served and serve in the military.

“Even just in the intricacies of the programs that the military has, but also just how much they honor the flag and our freedom, those are a lot of things that are taken for granted,” Weise said. “This is just something we need to consider because those people died for us.”

There was a formal ceremony with the VFW volunteer band playing patriotic music, then a keynote speaker from the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. There was also a reading of Generals Logan’s Orders and the Gettysburg Address.

The ceremony included full military honors and brought hundreds to the cemetery grounds.

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