Suffolk Memorial Day events planned

Published 9:34 pm Saturday, May 23, 2009

Memorial Day ceremonies throughout Suffolk will mark the occasion with the recognition of military veterans.

Suffolk American Legion Post No. 57 will hold a Memorial Day ceremony to honor departed comrades at 11 a.m. at the entrance to Cedar Hill Cemetery, on North Main Street. Captain Jay Bitting, deputy operations officer at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, will be the guest speaker.

Command Sgt. Maj. David M. Bruner will be the guest speaker for the Memorial Day ceremony at the Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery. Bruner is with U.s. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe.

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That ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday. The cemetery is located at 5310 Milners Road in Suffolk.

The ceremony is sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 2 and the Unit 2 Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary. As part of the event, representatives from veteran service and other organizations will place wreaths at the committal shelter to honor Virginia’s veterans.

American flags will be placed on all gravesites. Cemetery staff will be available to help visitors locate gravesites, and military service members and veterans can file pre-applications for future burial in the cemetery.

Service members who were honorably discharged qualify for burial in one of Virginia’s veterans’ cemeteries. A gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, placement of a government marker, and perpetual care of the site all are provided to the veteran at no charge. Veterans’ spouses and eligible dependent children may be interred for a fee, currently $300.

The Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery is one of two state-operated veterans’ cemeteries. A second cemetery, the Virginia Veterans Cemetery, is located in Amelia. A third is under construction in Dublin. The cemeteries are operated by the Virginia Department of Veterans Services.