Weymouth Town Council to commemorate US Memorial Day

The annual US Memorial Day ceremony will take place at the Weymouth American War Memorial on Weymouth promenade at 11am on Monday 31 May. The ceremony will be hosted by the Mayor of Weymouth Town Council, Cllr Colin Huckle.

The public are invited to attend the service and are reminded to observe current coronavirus restrictions, including social distancing. It will not be compulsory to wear face masks for the event, but individuals may choose to do so. 

Each year many local veterans, association representatives and residents attend the ceremony to show their respect for the US personnel who served and died during World War II. It recognises the thousands of US personnel who left the ports at Weymouth for D-Day in 1944.

The Mayor of Weymouth will lead the service and lay a wreath of behalf of residents, followed by wreath laying by veteran associations and the general public.

Cllr Colin Huckle, Mayor of Weymouth Town Council said: “We are pleased and proud to be able to host this important memorial service on Weymouth seafront to recognise US Memorial Day.

“The town has a long and strong relationship with the US and allied forces. I look forward to representing the town and reinforcing the respect and strong relationship with our American compatriots.

“I ask all those attending to please respect others as we emerge carefully from the lockdown. I will be giving a special mention to our dearly missed local standard bearer Lynwood Newman, who gave huge support to the council on many civic occasions, including the annual service at the US Memorial”

The Service will be carried out by Rev Geoffrey Carey and a wreath will be laid by Mrs Newman on behalf of the United States and her recently departed husband, Lynwood.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in United States, commemorating those who have died in military service for their country. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day – an occasion to decorate the graves of the war dead – and was created in the aftermath of the American Civil War.

The Weymouth American Memorial on Weymouth Seafront, overlooking the beach was unveiled on 3 December 1947 and rededicated in June 1999. Further renovation work was carried out in 2012 by local stonemasons.

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