On Friday June 14th, 2013, Evergreen Washelli will celebrate Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the United States flag in 1777. The American flag flies free – a unifying symbol of our nation that soars proudly above our homes, camp sites, small businesses, corporate offices, hospitals and schools. The U.S. Flag Code states that the flag “when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”
Evergreen Washelli is in need of 5’ x 9 ½’ flags for The Avenue of Colors in our Veterans Memorial Cemetery, as well as for retiring flags upon Veteran’s cremations.
You may donate by bringing in a flag for donation, donating any dollar amount towards a new flag, or donating $70 for a new flag in memory of a loved one.
If you wish to donate a flag or funds to purchase them, please contact Brenda Spicer at (206)362-5200.
On Monday May 27th, 2013, Evergreen Washelli will host our Annual Memorial Day Commemorative Service. Please join us as we honor America’s fallen and salute the flags on our “Avenue of Colors”.
In the morning, at 7:00 AM, there will be a Flag Placement at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Each of the 5000 white marble upright markers in the Veterans Section will receive a flag placed by hundreds of volunteers that will come out for this event. Veterans, scout groups, churches, local organizations and families will place the flags.
The 1:30 p.m. concert will feature marches, patriotic selections and other music provided by the Seattle Pacific University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Drum Corps. The Service of Remembrance begins at 2:00 p.m.
Following the Memorial Day Commemorative Service, we invite you to attend a guided tour of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery and learn about the remarkable lives of the Medal of Honor recipients in our care.
Our guide this year will be David Bloch, son of the Medal of Honor recipient Orville Emil Bloch. We are extremely honored and excited to have him as our tour guide.
Kindly meet us at the Doughboy Statue in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 3:15 pm. We ask for a $5.00 suggested donation for attendance, which will go to the purchase of flags for the Avenue of Flags. For more information, and to reserve a spot, please call us at (206)362-5200 or email tours@washelli.com.
On Monday May 28th, Evergreen Washelli hosted our Annual Memorial Day Commemorative Service. Thank you to all who joined us in honoring America’s fallen and saluting the flags on our “Avenue of Colors”.
We would also like to thank the family of Walter Gallagher for attending our service and handing out American flags in his memory. Walter was a beloved fixture at our Memorial Day celebrations for almost 60 years, and it was a great honor to have his family in attendance this year.
Please enjoy the photos from our 86th Annual Memorial Day Commemorative Service.
On Monday May 28th, 2012, Evergreen Washelli will host our Annual Memorial Day Commemorative Service. Please join us as we honor America’s fallen and salute the flags on our “Avenue of Colors”.
The 1:30 p.m. concert will feature marches, patriotic selections and other music provided by the Seattle Pacific University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Drum Corps. The Service of Remembrance begins at 2:00 p.m.
Captain Pete Mingo
This year’s speaker is Captain Pete Mingo. Captain Pete Mingo received his commission in 1990 from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. After graduation, he served aboard the Coast Guard Cutter HAMILTON home ported in Boston, MA where he qualified as an Engineering Officer of the Watch and Officer of the Deck. Following this tour, Captain Mingo completed Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, FL and received his wings in December of 1995. He was subsequently stationed at Air Station Cape May, NJ and later relocated to Coast Guard Group/Air Station Atlantic City, NJ.
In 2000, Captain Mingo transferred to Jacksonville, FL and became a plank owner of HITRON-10, the Coast Guard’s only aviation-Counter Drug squadron. After four years of flying the MH-68A he transferred to the Maritime Security Response Team and completed an aircraft transition course. He then flew MH-60’s out of Air Station Elizabeth City, NC as part of the Coast Guard’s only Counter- Terrorism unit, focused exclusively on maritime security threats.
Captain Mingo was assigned to Aviation Training Center Mobile, AL in 2006 as the Chief of the Aviation Special Missions Branch. This Branch was responsible for Airborne Use of Force, Rotary Wing Air Intercept, and Joint Air-Surface Tactics. In 2008, Captain Mingo assumed the position as Chief of the Training Division, and was placed in charge of Aviation Training for the entire Coast Guard. With a staff of approximately 130 active duty and civilian instructors, he was responsible for initial and proficiency training in all of the Coast Guard’s fixed and rotary wing airframes.
In 2010, Captain Mingo was assigned to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC where he assumed leadership of the Future Forces Project Division and later transferred to his current assignment in Seattle, WA as the Chief of Incident Management for Coast Guard District Thirteen.
Captain Mingo has amassed 3300 flight hours in Coast Guard helicopters and is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal (2), the Coast Guard Commendation Medal (2) and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal (4). Captain Mingo is a native of New London, CT and currently resides on Bainbridge Island, WA with his wife Patricia and two teenage daughters
Following the Memorial Day Commemorative Service, we invite you to attend a guided tour of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery and learn about the remarkable lives of the Medal of Honor recipients in our care.
Our guide this year will be David Bloch, son of the Medal of Honor recipient Orville Emil Bloch. We are extremely honored and excited to have him as our tour guide.
Kindly meet us at the Doughboy Statue in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 3:15 pm. We ask for a $5.00 suggested donation for attendance, which will go to the purchase of flags for the Avenue of Flags. For more information, and to reserve a spot, please call us at (206)362-5200 or email tours@washelli.com.
Walter Gallagher, Photo Courtesy of John Lok, The Seattle Times
Navy veteran Walter Gallagher believes in honoring those who fought for his freedom and on Memorial Day he’s done so faithfully — since 1953.
No, says Walter Gallagher, he didn’t personally know any of the men or women whose earthly remains lie beneath some 5,000 white marble tombstones on a peaceful knoll just off Aurora Avenue North.
But he wouldn’t think of spending Memorial Day away from them.
“They served their country,” said Gallagher, 87. “That’s what matters.”
Gallagher walks the trimmed lawn between rows of freshly cleaned headstones at Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Seattle as comfortably as if he’s among old friends. And in a sense, he is.
Since Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House, Gallagher, a Seattle-born Navy veteran, can remember only one time — about 10 years ago, when he was sick in bed with the flu — that he failed to attend the cemetery’s annual Memorial Day observance.
And on Monday, he’ll once more climb behind the wheel of his green ’92 Chevy Caprice wagon (which recently passed 200,000 miles) and drive the 15 minutes from his Wedgwood rental house to the cemetery, making sure he’s there well in advance of the 2 p.m. ceremony.
For years, Gallagher carried an American flag in a parade of colors at the event, with members of his American Legion post. More recently, since he banged his shoulder in a door jamb a few years back, he has turned to handing out small flags to people as they arrive.
Over time, he’s seen sunny Memorial Days, cloudy Memorial Days, breezy Memorial Days and at least one drenching Memorial Day that forced part of the event indoors.
One of his five sons, Garry Gallagher, of Woodinville, often joins him, and said it’s no mystery why his father considers this a solemn obligation.
“He appreciates his freedom,” said Garry Gallagher, 55. “It really boils down to just that.”
A free America isn’t something Walter Gallagher’s generation could take for granted when — five days after his 18th birthday in December 1941 — Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan.
Within weeks, Gallagher enlisted. There was no question about joining the military, he said. “We were under attack. People were signing up faster that they could take them in.”
The only issue was which branch of the service to join, and Gallagher’s choice was influenced by summertime “Fleet Weeks” of his childhood, when Navy vessels welcomed visitors on the Seattle waterfront.
“To me, the Navy looked like clean quarters and good food.”
That’s not exactly what he got. He became a bombardier and gunner in a unit of PBY Catalinas, military floatplanes armed with machine guns and bombs, carrying nine-man crews.
Gallagher flew in numerous South Pacific missions as part of the “Black Cat Squadron,” known for aircraft painted all black. They made their perilous bombing, patrol and reconnaissance missions at night, when their dark color made them difficult for the enemy to see, even with searchlights.
After the war, Gallagher returned to Seattle, where, from 1946 to 1981, he delivered bundles of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to racks, stores and newsstands around town.
These days, Gallagher, who said he has survived two ex-wives, has a simple daily routine that nearly always starts with coffee with regulars at the Little Red Hen near Green Lake and often ends with a drink at the Baranof in Greenwood.
He visits the veterans cemetery, which is part of Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, not just on Memorial Day but usually on Veterans Day and often on Independence Day as well.
“We used to have World War I veterans (at the events) and they’re gone now.” he said. “And us World War II veterans are fading fast … As long as I can drive and walk, I’ll be there.”
February 8th marks the Boy Scouts of America anniversary. We here at Evergreen Washelli appreciate everything the Scouts do to support our community, and would like to take a minute to show our gratitude. The photos below showcase the hard work and dedication of our local boy scouts.
This year Evergreen-Washelli will be celebrating veterans buried within its Veterans’ Cemetery section on December 10, 2011 at 8:45 am. Following a brief ceremony there will be laying of donated wreaths by volunteers.
Guest Speaker Skip Dreps
Our guest speaker this year is Skip Dreps. Dreps was drafted into the United States Army in 1969 and re-enlisted twice before leaving military service with extensive spinal cord injuries following many airborne operations. During his military service he was a medical non-commissioned officer assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group, 173rd Airborne Brigade, the 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team Allied Mobile Force (Europe) and assigned as a military advisor to NATO Headquarters in Shape, Belgium. His awards and decorations include the Combat Medical Badge, Army Commendation Medal, Master Parachutist Badge, and Aircrew Members Badge. He was also a graduate of the French Commando School and was awarded the French Parachutist Badge.
Following his military service he graduated from the University of Florida with a teaching degree in Secondary Schools and was an Upward Bound Instructor. He was recruited by the Paralyzed Veterans of America in 1984 and was trained as a National Service Officer. In 1997 he went to work as the Government Relations Director for the Northwest Chapter Paralyzed Veterans of America until September 2008. He was a Steering Committee member of the Garden of Remembrance, a memorial at the Seattle Benaroya Hall that memorializes all Washington State sons and daughters killed in war since 1941. He served as a Board of Trustee to the Veterans Cemetery at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery for ten years. He was a member of the Seattle VA’s Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Care Committee and served on King County’s Americans with Disabilities Advisory Board.
He served as a member of the Institutional Review Board at the Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research Corporation at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. He has been awarded the Outstanding Veteran of the Year Award by the Governor’s Veterans Advisory Committee and Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, received the White Ribbon Award by the Washington Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, and was honored by both the Makah Nation and the Choctaw Nation for his work with the Native Americans Veterans Association. He currently serves as the Ambassador and member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, Association of Washington Generals.
This special wreath laying ceremony is to occur simultaneously with Arlington National Cemetery and other Veterans Cemeteries in all 50 states (such as the one at Evergreen Washelli) along with veteran’s burial grounds around the globe.
“Wreaths Across America” organizes this event with the message of remembering our fallen heroes, honoring those who serve, and teaching our children about the sacrifices made by veterans and their families to preserve our freedoms.
This event is being made possible through donated funds and hard work done by the Navy Wives Club of America. It is their vision that has made this 2nd annual wreath laying ceremony possible. This year the Navy Wives Club was able to secure 100 wreaths which will allow for one wreath per row of veterans buried in Evergreen Washelli’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Wreaths will also be laid throughout Evergreen-Washelli at the graves of the Medal of Honor recipients. One wreath for each branch of service will be displayed at Evergreen-Washelli’s Doughboy statue in memory of all who have served.
It is interesting to note that each section with the Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery was named for a battle in which the United States Armed Forces participated. Bronze plaques in keeping with the military theme identifying each section of Evergreen-Washelli’s Veterans Cemetery were contributed by the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton.
Donations and Volunteers are needed If you would like to make a donation or participate in next year’s wreath laying ceremony, please contact Lorraine Zimmerman of the Totem #277 Navy Wives Club of America. Or for more information about this event, please contact Brenda Spicer at Evergreen Washelli, 206-362-5200.
About Evergreen Washelli’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is America’s most renowned veterans’ cemetery, but for the Seattle-area veterans and their spouses, being interred in Virginia would greatly hinder their loved ones from being able to visit their graves as often as they would prefer, especially prior to the jet age. As early as 1904, local veterans of the Spanish America war began to search for ways to honor their fallen comrades with a local cemetery of their own, but the start of the First World War delayed their efforts. Their search finally ended in 1927 when Clinton S. Harley, then General Manager for Evergreen Washelli, a veteran of the Spanish America War himself, offered a large section of the cemetery for the burial of veterans and their spouses. Today Evergreen Washelli has over 5000 Veterans in its care.
Fly the American Flag at Half Staff on Tuesday December 7, 2010
The December 7th, 1941, Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. It is often referred to as “The Day that will live in Infamy”. In one carefully planned and well executed stroke the Japanese Empire removed the United States Navy’s battleship force as a possible threat and propelled the United States into the Second World War as a full combatant.
By late November 1941, with peace negotiations clearly approaching an end, informed U.S. officials fully expected a Japanese attack into the Indies, Malaya and probably the Philippines as well. Completely unanticipated was the prospect that Japan would attack east as well.
On the morning of December 7th, 1941, the incoming Japanese attack planes were detected by radar and reported, but were mistaken for an incoming group of American planes due from the mainland. While on practice maneuvers outside the harbor that morning, an American destroyer spotted a Japanese submarine attempting to sneak into the harbor. The submarine was fired upon, immediately reported and ignored.
About 360 Japanese attack planes had launched at dawn from aircraft carriers in an attack force of about 33 ships. At 7:55 am the first bombs and torpedoes were dropped. After two hours, the U.S. sustained 18 ships sunk or severely damaged, about 170 aircraft destroyed, and there were more than 3,000 casualties. Japanese casualties were minimal.
On December 7, all US flags at federal, state and public facilities in the United States will be flown at half-staff, in commemoration of the Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. This historic day will allow all Americans to remember the infamous attack by Japanese forces on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, as well as celebrate the valor and dedication shown by a brave generation of Americans during the World War II. December 7, 1941, according to US Navy Chief Admiral Michael G. Mullen, was “not just a day of infamy, but in many ways it was a day of discovery for America and for the world. It changed us, it hurt us, but it also made us stronger, as did September 11.”
The US Congress, according to Public Law 103 308, has officially designated the seventh day of December as the “National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.” On this solemn occasion, the nation pays homage to the perseverance and heroism shown by many in the face of extremely overwhelming odds. This holiday allows the nation to commemorate the sacrifices made by the valiant members of the US Armed Forces, as well as to celebrate the victory over the forces of fascism, oppression and isolationism. This day also bodes well for igniting the patriotic spirit in each of us.
