Iva Lowmiller, daughter of Mandy and Elton Lowmiller delivered the Gettysburg Address and Ken Bandy from Knox Township served as guest speaker at the West Township Memorial Day service held at Moultrie Chapel. (Submitted photo)

MINERVA – The West Township Memorial Day service held at Moultrie Chapel, state Route 172 was attended by approximately 200 people Memorial Day.

VFW Post 4120 Honor Guard from Minerva began with the Salute to Fallen Soldiers, followed by Taps, played by Katie Reusser.

Vice President Jeff Haynam lead the outdoor program. Young and old marched through the cemetery placing cut flowers on veterans graves. Iva Lowmiller, fifth grader from Minerva Elementary, recited the Gettysburg Address, followed by Patriotic music preformed by the Minerva Area Community Band, directed by Derrick Maxey.

Speaker Ken Bandy invited the group to the indoor program where he portrayed a character

from the Civil War era telling the story of young Benton Speakman from Ohio Company

B 65th Infantry killed in the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Speakman was a young farm

hand on the Wooley Farm from nearby Lynchburg, when he enlisted at the age of 20.

Using

letters written back home to his mother and other documents, Bandy gave young Benton’s

account as a soldier and the ultimate sacrifice that he gave to his country. He is buried at

Moultrie Cemetery.

Songs of the era were sung by Megan Lynn. President Shirley Whiteleather Fox called on veterans to be recognized. It was the first Memorial Day without any World War II veterans in attendance. Fox noted that Harriet Miller Jones and Bill Pilati, WWII veterans who attended yearly and lived to be 104 and 100, respectively, both passed in January. The service concluded with Joseph Ellis leading the congregation in a group sing.

West Township Memorial Association plans the yearly Memorial Day service. Since 2015, it has taken on tax exempted status for continuous work to restore Moultrie Chapel and the leaning and fallen headstones in Moultrie Cemetery. This committee works with the West Township trustees and has plans for ongoing restoration to all five township cemeteries, including New Alexander, The Plains, Chambersburg, Quaker Ridge and Moultrie.