Congressman Brian Mast will be the guest speaker as the United Veterans of Port St. Lucie host its annual Memorial Day service on Monday, May 28, at Veterans Memorial Park, 2100 SE Veterans Memorial Parkway. The service will start at 10 a.m. and last about an hour.
Mast, a Republican whose distict covers St. Lucie, Martin and part of Palm Beach counties, is a former Army sergeant who lost his legs to an IED in 2010 while serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was recently appointed to the House Veterans Affairs Committee..
Service organizer Cathy La Valle said Mast is an accomplished speaker with much to tell the veterans and broader communities. “I’m sure he’s going to provide a great presentation,” she said.
Also on tap for the Memorial Day service, La Valle said, is something people will soon start seeing at city and participating businesses’ parking lots.
“After the ceremony, there’s going to be an unveiling,” said La Valle, a 25-year Air Force veteran. “The City of Port St. Lucie will be unveiling their Purple Heart parking signs.”
The signs will designate parking for Purple Heart recipients. La Valle said area veterans organizations have approached the city, county and commercial property owners to put the signs at some of their parking spaces. La Valle said there will be no enforcement, such as with accessible parking spaces, but she believes the community will respect the reserved parking. A little more than 12,000 have the Purple Heart license plates, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the military and some government agencies for major wounds received in combat and terrorist acts.
How and where Memorial Day got started is a complex question. In the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation declaring Waterloo, N.Y., the birthplace of Memorial Day on May 30, 1866. But some historians hold that what can be counted as the first Memorial Day service happened on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, S.C.
There was a Confederate POW camp at what is now Hampton Park. Before then it was a horse racetrack. Many of the POWs were black Union soldiers who weren’t afforded the traditional treatment of captured troops. About 250 died and were buried in a mass grave.
As Union troops pushed into South Carolina, many fled Charleston. However, many of the former slaves stayed. They disinterred and reburied the “Martyrs of the Race Course” with dignity. Many historians say almost all who remained in Charleston showed up to dedicate the new mass grave on May 1, 1865.
Other historians hold that the Grand Army of the Republic, which accepted Union soldiers, sailors and Marines, might also have been inspired by the Confederate Memorial Day, which likely started in 1866 around Columbus, Ga., to institute the annual remembrance.
La Valle said about 500 attend the annual event, and seating is limited. She urged folks to take lawn chairs and umbrellas for shade. The city provides bottled water, but it’s a good idea to take some.
