Annual Memorial Day ceremony happening Monday at West End Cemetery.

Special to Beneath the Surface News

Turnbow-Higgs American Legion Post and Auxiliary Unit 240 will once again host a Memorial Day ceremony at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 30, at West End Cemetery (American Legion Veterans Field of Honor) located between Lillian and Harbin streets, south of East Washington near Tarleton campus.

Location is best accessed via the Swan Street entrance to cemetery.

The annual event is open to the public. A limited number of metal folding chairs will be available and set-up in the shade of huge oak trees. Master of Ceremony, Post 240 Chaplain, Matt Hallgarth, will begin the service with an invocation followed by the hoisting and lowering of flag to the CD bugle call “To the Colors,” followed by the singing of the National Anthem by Henderson Jr. High School Choir led by Director Heather Smith.

The guest speaker will be Army Major Nathan Collier.

Nathan, a Stephenville resident, played football for the Yellow Jackets graduating from SHS in 2003.

After high school, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated with the Class of 2007. His class has the distinction of being the first to fully begin the Academy’s admission process after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Nathan played as an offensive lineman and lettered for Army Football. Upon graduation with a degree in engineering management, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in Field Artillery.

Nathan served on active duty for eight years including assignments to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Germany, and Hawaii. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Nathan continues to serve as an engineer officer in the Texas Army National Guard.

He is currently assigned to the 176th Engineer Brigade at Camp Mabry in Austin. Nathan has been activated for Hurricane Harvey, COVID-19 Pandemic and Dallas civil disturbance.

Nathan is now an engineer with Collier Consulting, Inc.

The laying of the wreath by guest speaker and Auxiliary Unit 240 President Martha Fredrickson followed by Post 240 Honor Guard Rifle Salute and Taps presented by Post 240 bugler will close the service.

The program will last about 30 minutes.