Airman 1st Class Matthew Seidler,
http://twitpic.com/9q4lc1, of Westminster,
died in January, and will be one of seven Marylanders honored at ceremonies at
the annual Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens’ Memorial Day observance, in
Timonium.
It was less than six years ago that Matthew Seidler accepted
his diploma as a member of Westminster High School's Class of 2006.
He is recalled by classmates as a good friend, serious
worker and talented artist and video production student.
It was less than six months ago that Matthew Seidler was
healthy, happy and pursuing a job that his family said he felt he was called to
do — serving in the U.S. Air Force as a member of an elite explosive ordinance
disposal squadron.
Yet this Monday, May 28, Airman 1st Class Matthew Seidler
will be remembered on the first
Memorial Day since his death in January, while serving
his country in Afghanistan.
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Eagle Archive: For Memorial Day, we recall a fallen soldier
who made sure we remembered others
In 1967, our community noted the 100th anniversary of
Westminster's Memorial Day observances. According to local historian Jay
Graybeal, who wrote about the occasion for the Historical Society of Carroll
County in 1997, "Participants came from sixteen states and one newspaper
estimated that the crowd numbered 15,000 people."
Ironically and tragically, it was just one year after that
centennial celebration that Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sherman E. Flanagan
Jr., 38, a Westminster attorney — and a member of the 100th anniversary
committee — was shot down and killed while flying a mission over the
Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam on July 21, 1968. He was flying an F-100
"Super Sabre" jet fighter at the time of his death.
For #Memorial Day, we recall Air National Guard Lt. Col.
Sherman E. Flanagan Jr loss in #Vietnam
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Atlee Wampler was a tall man who maintained a military
bearing forged in heavy combat throughout WWII, all his life
Wampler served as the #Westminster #Carroll Co #Memorial Day
parade marshall from 1947 until his death in 1991
http://tinyurl.com/7vojfmx
On May 28,
Carroll County and
Westminster will mark the 145th
observance of
Memorial Day with an expanded parade and three-days of
activities — thanks to all the hard work of
American Legion Carroll Post No. 31 and leaders
like Skip Amass, coordinator of this year's activities.
The tradition of the parade and ceremony in Westminster
began in 1868, when Mary Bostwick Shellman followed General John A. Logan's May
5, 1868, General Order No. 11 — which called upon people to adorn the graves of
Union soldiers with flowers.
She gathered a group of schoolchildren for that task, and
they walked from the old schoolhouse on Center Street to Westminster Cemetery.
As with all the many stories in Carroll, the hands and
hearts of countless individuals and community organizations have guided and
nurtured the observances over the years. The list is long and celebrated.
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Next Monday is Memorial Day. For many it is more than a
holiday, it is a day when we gather as a community to express our gratitude to
our country’s men and women in uniform, who by their sacrifice cannot be with
us to enjoy the day…
http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5122
The tradition of the parade and ceremony in Westminster
began in 1868, when Mary Bostwick Shellman followed General John A. Logan’s May
5, 1868, General Order No. 11 to adorn the graves of Union soldiers with
flowers. She gathered a group of schoolchildren for the task and they walked
from the old schoolhouse on Center Street to Westminster Cemetery.
[…]
Last
week I wrote about a local community leader, Atlee Willis Wampler,
Jr., who served as the Westminster Memorial Day parade marshal for more than 44
years, from just after World War II until he passed away March 11, 1991.
[…]
I was quite struck by a May 6 article in The Washington
Post by Ian Shapira, “Barbara Robbins: A slain CIA secretary’s life
and death,” about a little-known Vietnam War casualty from a bombing that
occurred in Saigon March 30, 1965.
According to the article, “The CIA director revealed only a
few details about the 21-year-old woman, a secretary among spies. In the
agency’s annual memorial service for employees killed on the job, then-Director
Leon E. Panetta announced that a new name had been inscribed with calligraphy
inside the
CIA’s
Book of Honor: Barbara Annette Robbins, who had volunteered to go to Saigon
during the Vietnam War…
[…]
The story of Ms. Robbins is compelling and evocative. Yet
for me, what I found particularly haunting was the
black
and white picture of a very young American, in a far-off land, defending
our freedoms, staring right at us.
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'Skip' Amass leads the charge for Westminster's 145th
Memorial Day observance
Keeping the focus on community, service ... and good weather
Not long after the sun comes up on
Memorial Day, and hours before Westminster's 145th
Memorial Day parade kicks off at 9:30 a.m., Arnold "Skip" Amass will
be on site, helping set up the TV cameras and tying up last-minute loose ends.
Most of all, he'll be praying for good weather during an
event that he's been busy planning almost from the moment that last year's
144th Memorial Day parade wrapped up.
"To give you some idea of the scope of this project,
the committee that's working on this with me has about 145 people on it,"
said Amass, who for the past 15 years has also been the voice of the parade,
providing commentary for
Carroll County's public access TV channel
19's live coverage of the event.
This is the first year he's taken on the far more demanding
role of principal coordinator.
"The people on the committee, who meet at the
American Legion, represent just about every
organization and every government in the county, including the library, the
farm museum, the police departments," said Amass, 80, himself a
Korean War veteran and long-time member of
Westminster's Carroll Post 31 American Legion Post…
http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/ph-ce-skip-amass-0604-20120523,0,1578592,full.story
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#Westminster 2012 #Memorial Day Celebration Calendar of
Events - 145th Anniversary
Westminster 2012 Memorial Day Celebration
Calendar of Events - 145th Anniversary
Saturday, May 26
* 9 a.m.-2 p.m. -Antique car show on the City of Westminster
parking lot in front of City Hall, Longwell Avenue, Westminster. Entries by the
AACA Gettysburg Region Antique Car Club, the Street Cars of Desire and the Free
State Corvette Club.
* Noon-5 p.m. - Carroll County Farm Museum - Military
reenactors depicting the life and times of soldiers during the War of 1812, the
Civil War, World War I, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert
Storm, Kuwait and other conflicts. There will be demonstrations and displays
and encampments. Also jeep rides for kids and a rock climbing wall. Free
admission to events.
* 3 p.m. - Carroll County Farm Museum - music concert
featuring the Westminster Municipal Band and the Old Line Statesmen Barbershop
Group.
* 4-7 p.m. - Fried chicken dinner and entertainment at the
VFW Post, 519 Poole Road. Cost is $8 adults; $5 children ages 3 to 8. For
tickets, call 410-848-9888, Ext. 1, or Deb Carns at 443-677-0361.
* 7-11 p.m. - Heroes Dance at the VFW Post. Ticket $5; call
410-848-9888, Ext. 1, or 443-677-0361.
Sunday, May 27
* Noon-5 p.m. -Events at the Carroll County Farm Museum, 500
S. Center St., Westminster, continue with 20th century military reenactors,
jeep rides and a rock climbing wall. Free admission to events.
* 3 p.m. - Band concert at the Carroll County Farm Museum
featuring the Winters Mill High School Band and Joe and Audrey Cimino
performing patriotic songs.
Monday, May 28
* 9:30 a.m.-Noon -145th Memorial Day Parade, from
Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street to the Westminster Cemetery. At the
conclusion of the parade observance held at the cemetery with comments by grand
marshal Commander Matthew Shipley, USN.
* 2 p.m. - Memorial Day service at VFW Post, 519 Poole Road,
with guest speaker, retired Army Chaplain Col. Joel Cocklin, a Westminster
native who graduated from Westminster High School in 1965. Also an open house,
refreshments and special music. Call 443-677-0361 for details.
#Westminster 2012 #Memorial Day Celebration Calendar of
Events - 145th Anniversary
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Memorial Day 2012 by Maryland State Senator Joe Getty
Westminster's 145th Consecutive Celebration
Marylanders for Joe Getty
May 26, 2012
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CDR Matthew W. Shipley, a 1984 Westminster High School
graduate, also graduated from Navy recruit training in January 1985,
Electronics Technician “A” School in October 1985, Naval Academy Preparatory
School in 1987 and the United States Naval Academy in 1991.
http://carrollmemorialday.com/commander-matthew-w-shipley/
Shipley’s tours include Assistant Platoon Commander at SEAL
Team EIGHT, test article Officer-in-Charge of a Mark V Special Operations Craft
(SOC) at United States Special Operations Command, Operations Officer at
Special Boat Unit TWENTY, Mk V SOC Liaison Officer to Special Operations
Command European Command, Naval Special Warfare Task Unit (NSWTU) Commander for
a Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group, and Platoon Commander at SEAL Team
EIGHT.
As a reservist, Shipley served as Executive Officer of Navy
Reserve Naval Special Warfare Group TWO Detachment 309, as Executive Officer of
SEAL Team THREE deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2006, as NSWTU Commander Manda
Bay, Kenya in Oct 2006 – Mar 2007, and as the Commanding Officer of SEAL Detachment
EIGHTEEN in Little Creek, Virginia from Dec 2009 – Dec 2011.
Shipley graduated from the United States Naval Academy with
a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He has also completed Basic
Underwater Demolition/SEAL school, United States Army Ranger school, Military
Freefall school, Air Command and Staff College Joint Professional Military
Education (JPME) and the Joint Staff College’s Advanced JPME. As a civilian he
is a General Electric qualified Six Sigma Master Blackbelt, ISO 9000 auditor, a
government contractor, a Constitutional lecturer, and author of an
energy-efficiency home-improvement book. He is the son of Michael and Barbara
Shipley, and he is married to the former Christine Saseen.
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