Wreaths tossed into the sea in Frederiksted on Memorial Day this year. Leaders present were Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, VA Dir. Patrick Farrell, Maj. Gen. Kodjo Knox-Limbacker, STX Adm. Sammuel Sanes, Magistrate Judge Emile Henderson III. By. GOV'T HOUSE
On Monday, the U.S. Virgin Islands joined the rest of the country in paying tribute to the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service of their nation. Memorial Day, which did not feature the traditional military parades this year, nevertheless served to focus the territory’s attention on the bravery and sacrifice of their fallen service members.
At a ceremony at the Verne I. Richards Memorial park on St. Croix, government officials and members of the territory’s service branches gathered to offer words of prayer, tributes of doves and remembrances of wreaths in memory of, and thanksgiving to, those who laid down their lives to protect democracy, freedom, and American values.
Ceremonies were also held on St. Thomas – a wreath-laying at the Emile White Memorial on Veterans Drive, and another ceremony at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Veterans Memorial Park – and St. John.
Elsewhere in the territory, Virgin Islanders marked the traditional start of the U.S. summer season by using the federal holiday for recreation purposes. Residents flocked to the territory’s popular beaches and enjoyed time with family and friends, contemplating the way of life that was secured by the blood, tears, and sacrifice of the nation’s fallen veterans, among which hundreds of brave, noble Virgin Islanders can be counted.
