Carmel will hold its annual Memorial Day Ceremony to remember those who paid the ultimate price in service to our country. The ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 24 at Carmel Clay Veterans Memorial Plaza, 800 3rd Ave. SW, across from The Center for the Performing Arts. The public is invited to attend. (Rain location: The Tarkington Theater at The Center for The Performing Arts, 3 Center Green.)
The ceremony will begin with remarks by Mayor Jim Brainard followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Clay Township Trustee Doug Callahan and the sventh grade class from Coram Deo Academy.
The keynote speaker will be Ernie Lorch, who was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States with his mother shortly after his father was killed during Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”) in 1938. After the United States declared war on Germany in 1941, Lorch enlisted in the military and found himself back in Occupied Europe. He was assigned to a British intelligence unit to interrogate captured Nazi soldiers since he was fluent in German. His unit questioned infamous German generals (Speer, Goering, Van Papen and Rundstaet) prior to their prosecution at the Nuremberg trials.
Members of the local American Legion Post 155 and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1003 will conduct a flag raising ceremony and all attending will have the opportunity to place flowers at the Memorial.
Patriotic music will be provided by Cynthia Ensign Baney; Actors Theatre of Indiana founders Don Farrell, Cynthia Collins and Judy Fitzgerald; Smoky Row Orff Ensemble directed by Joshua Southard; Cherry Tree Choralaires directed by Anna Moody; Prairie Trace Elementary Choir directed by Andrew Poticha and accompanied by Linda Hutchins; Andy Thieme, founder of Footlocker Stories; and the Carmel Fire Department Pipes and Drums with the Indianapolis Public Safety Pipe Band.
The ceremony will end with a 21-gun salute and Taps played by David Bechtel.
The Girls Scouts of Central Indiana will present a box of cookies to veterans or anyone in active service attending the event as a thank you for their service to our country. Light refreshments will also be available, compliments of Kroger.
Please leave extra time due to construction season and detours in the area. For more information, please visit CarmelLink.com.