Memorial Day Service held for local fallen service members

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Scotland-Windthorst Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2676 held a Memorial Day Service for local fallen service members. The family of Gary Johnston, a fallen service member, came out to remember the sacrifice their loved one made for America.

Johnston’s cousin Adam Wolf shared that Johnston was all about service.

“That’s just typical Gary, always there supporting you, supporting your family, and supporting your country,” said Adam Wolf. “If he had to do it all over again, he would do everything again. He loved this country, and he knew that he would have to die and fight for this country to keep us free.”

Ted Neeb spent the day mourning the loss of these local heroes.

“These were young men who had their whole lives ahead of them, and they gave the ultimate sacrifice, and so this is the way they get to give us the world we live in today, and we want them to know that we remember them, we remember their families these gold star families and all of our communities behind them,” said Neeb, Memorial Day Service attendee.

Major James Hedgepeth, Commander of the 361st Training Squadron at Sheppard Air Force Base, believes Memorial Day is about remembrance and supporting those who lost a loved one.

“When you have a small community like Scotland, it’s more important for you to come out and show your presence and say that even though we may not know someone’s name we’ll remember them,” said Major Hedgepeth.

Neeb said it’s important to honor those like Johnston every day.

“They might be our grandparents, our parents, WW2, The Vietnam War, but we like to commemorate all these young men that have served us before to give us the lives that we have today,” added Neeb.

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