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Independence holds Memorial Day service on Public Square, honors veterans and remembers fallen
Summary
Residents gathered on Public Square for a Memorial Day service featuring an honor guard, band, veteran speakers and a procession to Maple Shade Cemetery, followed by a fundraising cookout for the Independence High School marching band.
A Memorial Day service on Public Square in Independence brought residents together for readings, veteran remembrances, and a procession to Maple Shade Cemetery on the morning of the event.
The ceremony featured the Independence Fire Department honor guard, performances by the Independence High School marching band, and youth participation from Cub Scout Troop 811 and Cub Scout Pack 297. Father Matt Jordan of Saint Michael's Catholic Church offered prayers; event organizers invited attendees to a short graveside ceremony at Maple Shade Cemetery and a post-service fundraising cookout at Drug Mart to benefit the Independence High School marching band.
Kevin Fuqua Jr., identified during the program as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve and a police officer with the Independence Police Department, spoke to attendees about sacrifice and remembrance. "This celebration should be as crowded as our Fourth of July fireworks celebration because we are celebrating the greatest people this world has ever known," Fuqua said.
Constable James P. Trakos, a retired major of the Ohio Military Reserve, recounted his father Staff Sergeant Peter W. Trakos's World War II service and the liberation of a slave labor camp in Germany. Trakos described his father's December 1944 actions under heavy fire in Enzdorf and recounted finding an emaciated man who led him to a camp later identified as a slave labor site. He said his father and his unit rounded up suspected SS guards and helped liberate the camp; Trakos framed the story as an example of the sacrifices memorialized by the city's hometown hero banners.
Representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary marked the occasion with a wreath placement. Pat Woodrick, introduced as a lifetime member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, placed a wreath "as a symbol of eternity" and spoke about honoring those who gave their lives in service.
Organizers closed the service by inviting attendees to the procession to Maple Shade Cemetery for a brief graveside observance and to the band’s fundraising cookout at Drug Mart. The program included a demonstration on the symbolic "thirteen folds" of the American flag presented by local Scouts and a retired Navy officer, Captain Carl Asif, who was introduced as a former member of the city council.
