Erie County Legion leads Veterans Day commemoration

Junior ROTC cadets from four high schools, Boy and Girl Scouts and American Legion Family members from Erie County, N.Y., gathered on a chilly Sunday morning to pay tribute to all who have served in uniform – past and present – at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

The annual Erie County American Legion Veterans Day Commemorative Ceremony is one of two opportunities each year for veterans and young people to place U.S. flags at the grave markers of veterans who have passed away and are buried at the historic cemetery in Buffalo.

“We owe our veterans a debt of gratitude we can never repay,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at the ceremony, attended by hundreds, including uniformed JROTC units from McKinley, Hutch Tech, South Park and Maritime Charter School.

Prior to the ceremony, led by Erie County American Legion Commander Anthony Solina, the JROTC cadets and Scouts walked the rows of markers, placing flags at approximately 7,200 markers of men and women who have served the nation in uniform. They also place flags at the cemetery for Memorial Day each year, giving motorists a blanket of red, white and blue to view as they pass the cemetery.

“These kids will have it all done in half an hour – that’s how good they are,” said George Barton, Erie County American Legion vice commander and graves registration chairman.

Wreaths were laid by The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and the 40 & 8. Among distinguished guests at the ceremony was Sons of The American Legion National Commander Greg “Doc” Gibbs.

Founded in 1849, 269-acre Forest Lawn is more than a cemetery where more than 200,000 are laid to rest. It is also a historic visitors attraction in Buffalo, where concerts, lectures and films are shared to help tell the story of those who are remembered there. The cemetery also has more than 1.2 million historic documents in a collection at its visitors center.

Among the historic figures buried there are Chief Red Jacket of the Red Wolf Tribe of the Seneca Nation, North Pole explorer Frederick A. Cook, U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisolm (the first African-American woman elected to the House of Representatives), William G. Fargo (co-founder of Wells-Fargo Express), rhythm and blues star Rick James and Willis Haviland Carrier, regarded as the “father of the air-conditioning industry.”