Annandale’s American Legion post commemorates Memorial Day

These are the opening lines of the famous poem written by John McCrae during World War I. American Legion Post 1976 Auxiliary member Karen McDaniel read the poem, a moving tribute to those who died while defending their country, during a Memorial Day ceremony at the post Monday morning.

Post Commander Tony Gerner, commander of Post 1976 in Annandale, led the ceremony, which included “The Star Spangled Banner,” a prayer, and 30 seconds of silence to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The guest speaker, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova, called Memorial Day an “intensely personal day for so many people,” noting that “everyone is touched by a veteran some time in your life.” Bulova’s 89-year-old father served in the Marines in World War II and fought in Okinawa and Iwo Jima. Amid the horrors of those battles, Bulova told the audience, he was inspired by a beautiful little town in Saipan called Charon Kanoa, and later named his daughter, Sharon, after that place.

“Memorial Day is a time to reflect and to say thank you to our veterans,” Bulova said. And one way the government has acknowledged its appreciation for veterans is through tax relief, she said, noting that the state Constitution has recently been amended to exempt certain veterans with permanent and debilitating disabilities from property taxes.