Monday, May 27th, Memorial Day, the public is invited to the annual Port Huron Memorial Day Parade. Line up for the parade will be held on the west side of Military Street near Zebra Lounge at 10:00am. Parade starts at 11:00am heading north on Huron to Pine Grove Park for a short Memorial Day program. This year’s Memorial Day program will recognize 21-local fallen heroes from World War I and II, Korean and Vietnam Wars who were forgotten but now will be forever remembered by our community for their actions and devotions from this day forward. The St. Clair County Allied Veteran Council and Memorial Tablet Committee determined these local military service members who died in service have met the criteria to be added to the monument in Pine Grove Park. This is the largest number of names to be added to the monument since the Vietnam War. “This is historical moment for our community. We will collectively remember all 21-fallen heroes who have been forgotten for over 100 years,” said Daniel J. Crocker, retired State Director of Veterans Services, Department of Michigan of Veterans of Foreign Wars. Crocker’s involvement with the Memorial Tablet Committee dates back to the early 1980’s. Since his retirement as Director, he has been actively involved in researching and identifying war dead from St. Clair County, Michigan and documenting those findings. The following service members will be remembered and honored:
World War I
John W. Ashford, Port Huron
Harris Christenson, Port Huron
Don M. Dickinson, Marine City
Floyd Pemberton, Algonac
William E. Regan, Marine City
Grover G. Wegg, Port Huron
World War II
Fred Jones, Burton
William W.L. Mitchell, Port Huron
Oswald A. Powers, Marine City
Richard Regan, Yale
Clarence Sanders, Port Huron
Benjamin Scoggan, Port Huron
William J. Woolley, Goodells
Korean
Howard J. Ahles, St. Clair
Frederick D. Ballantine, Port Huron
Bill E. Buck, Yale and St. Clair
Oliver B. Crain, Jr, Goodells
William A. MacKean, Avoca
William Poole, Emmett
Willie L. Thomas, Port Huron
Vietnam
Clarence W. Howard, Port Huron
In addition to being on the Pine Grove Tablet, these fallen heroes will be included in the Blue Water Fallen Heroes Community Banner Program. These beautiful, patriotic banners honoring those who died while serving their country, will be displayed yearly for one week prior to and one week after Memorial Day across St. Clair County starting in 2021. The community’s help is needed to obtain photographs for over 560 service members who died while serving their country. Service members from World War I to the current Gulf War who resided in cities/townships across St. Clair County will be included. If you are a family member or know of a friend or a neighbor who died while serving their country, call the banner message line at (810) 985-2007 to schedule an appointment to have a photograph scanned. Everyone is invited to be a part of this historical Memorial Day Parade and Program on May 27th. For more information, contact Nancy Deising, BS, CHES®, Outreach Coordinator, at (810) 989-6945 or by e-mail at ndeising@stclaircounty.org .
