By Andy Weddington
Monday, 16 December 2019
Remember: Our fallen U. S. Veterans. Honor: Those who serve. Teach: Your children the value of freedom. Wreaths Across America
Perry Sloan served his country.
A simple flat weathered cement and granite marker in Hillcrest Cemetery, Cary, North Carolina, confirms Perry was killed in combat; on a Saturday a mere eight days after turning 24.
That Saturday was 19 May 1945 - three days after the heaviest casualty day (nearly 600 on the 16th) on Okinawa.
Perry Sloan's family, and the small town of Cary, devastated. Of course.
Hillcrest does not quite cover five acres. The sacred ground of Cary's prominent, paupers, and patriots, has a gentle roll. Some old trees with big outstretched limbs as if strong bony arms offering safety add grace. Quiet wooded residential neighborhoods encircle as security. And the Town of Cary's revitalized quaint business district is but a couple blocks away. Hillcrest is anything but a scary place. It's welcoming. Rather magnetic, really.
Family has lived in Cary since the mid-70s.
Not before Saturday morning past was there call to be in the cemetery.
But Saturday was good reason.
Wreaths Across America would shortly, as goes on across our country annually, remember and honor veteran graves with a red-bowed wreath. The public, all ages and especially youth, invited; to teach, to learn, to help.
Parking, a large(r) and newer upright marker for Perry Sloan flanked by two small American flags and one small Marine Corps flag first caught my eye. His original small marker opposite about 10 feet. The complementary stones tell his story ... A platoon sergeant who led Marines of E Company, 6th Marine Division in battle against Japanese forces on Okinawa.
As much as I have read about, and heard the stories from Marines who fought, those Pacific battles, it is still difficult to imagine, to comprehend, what Perry Sloan, and all the Perry Sloans (one I knew as the late Ray Wilburn, Sergeant Major, USMC), did.
My guess is 75-100 - small children to elder - bundled up to fend off the gray damp chill showed up for the ceremony and to help lay wreaths.
Chapters of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored. A JROTC detail from Cary High presented colors during the Pledge of Allegiance. The mayor, not a veteran, spoke from the heart; sincere, appreciative. A Navy chaplain delivered Invocation and Benediction. Local Legion members, veterans, and Boy Scouts pitched in. Taps bugled.
A ways out front and aside, discreetly I painted the scene in watercolor.
Hillcrest Cemetery, Cary, NC - Wreaths Across America
7 x 10 in. watercolor
Words complete it was time for the deed.
The hasty pile of wreaths vanished - the green and red strikingly beautiful when dispersed throughout the cemetery; the living paying tribute - to those who lived; some long, some, tragically, not.
Soon the cemetery cleared.
Walking towards the car, a white-haired woman easily a decade my senior carrying a wreath approached. "I see by your emblem, you are a Marine." "Yes, ma'am, I am." "Well, we have covered all the veterans. Please, this wreath is for you. Take it home."
I thanked her, wished Merry Christmas, and continued on.
Kind as her gesture, it did not seem proper to leave with the wreath.
To port was a small Marine Corps flag marking a grave so I walked to investigate.
PFC (Private First Class) Adams fought in World War II and Korea. Somehow, by the grace of God, he managed to survive and live a long life. He was called Papa, an endearment (platoon) Sergeant Sloan would never know.
I wondered if he knew Perry Sloan.
His grave had one wreath.
Two now.
I saluted and left.
PFC Adams and Sergeant Sloan, Marines, brothers for eternity.
Freedom.
Remember. Honor. Teach.
Merry Christmas!
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