Manatee County honors Memorial Day with a ceremony

BRADENTON, Fla. — Manatee County residents honored their fallen heroes on Memorial Day as the city of Bradenton held a ceremony Monday morning at the Veterans Park near the Riverwalk.

One veteran attending the ceremony was Dick Sheehan, who served in the Army for 27 years.

“One of the main things for me is all of the people that died in my unit in Vietnam, to remember them so no one forgets them,” he said.

He said the Donald L. Courtney Veterans Park by the Riverwalk allows people in the community to honor those who died for their country.

“It’s very special that they have a ceremony like this that you can attend,” he said. “Some places don’t have them, so it’s great to have a memorial park where we can have a remembrance.”

Bradenton’s Mayor Gene Brown said it’s always important to remember the area’s fallen soldiers, and ceremonies like the one held on Memorial Day help bring the community together.

“As long as we can do these things to celebrate our veterans — those that served us, those that are serving us, and those in the military who gave the ultimate sacrifice — if we stop doing it, then we forget,” Brown said.

Palmetto’s Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant said the best way to honor them is to remember.

“So, back to the central question: How do we fulfill an obligation to remember our departed service members? The simple answer is to, and my call to each of you today and to each of the citizens, is to strive to be personally worthy of the sacrifice,” she said.