Memorial Day service to honor fallen heroes

   The Memorial Day service at Mount Hope Cemetery will be held Monday at 10:30 a.m. beginning with the presentation of the colors by members of the Andrew Kinder VFW Post #4688.
    Pastor David Kahle of Zion Lutheran Church will be the guest speaker talking on “The Importance of Memorials.”
    Pastor Kahle has been serving at the Lutheran Church for 14 years come June.
    Along with his duties at the local church, he oversees other pastors within the McCook circuit area. He is the treasurer for the Ministerial Association, chaplain for VFW Post #4688 and serves on the city’s senior services board in Imperial.
    Pastor Kahle is originally from south of Kearney.
    His life’s journey saw him enlist in the United States Army twice, first, he served as a 19 Delta (19D) Calvary Scout and then as a 66 Hotel (66H) Registered Army Nurse.
    Pastor Kahle has been deployed twice. While stationed in Germany, he deployed to Iraq during Desert Storm. His second deployment was to Korea as a nurse on a one-year hardship tour.
    Pastor Kahle is married to Meranda, and they have one grown daughter.
    Mount Hope Cemetery has more than 300 veterans buried there.
    Preparing for the Memorial Day service to honor these veterans and recognize their sacrifices requires volunteers to help place small flags on each grave site.
    It is requested that anyone willing to help be at the cemetery today (Thursday) at 4:30 p.m. to help place the flags.
    After the service Monday, more volunteers will be needed to pick up the flags at 4 p.m.
    If any veteran’s grave is missed, contact Duane Todd at 308-882-5568 and the grave will be properly decorated.
    The Memorial Day service is a time of reflection and recognizing soldiers who gave their service to this country.
    The program is open to the entire community.