By John Howell Sr.

Officials of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars are inviting relatives and friends of Panola men who died in the wars of the 20th and 21st Centuries to participate in the Memorial Day Service.

The Memorial Day Service — Monday, May 28 on the Batesville Square — will include a flag retirement ceremony that will retire a worn U. S. flag for each person named on the downtown monument.

“We want to retire a flag in memory of each man down there,” said John Ard.

“Any family member who is present is welcome; if you’re a friend who grew up with them, that’s fine,” Ard said.

“I would like for a family member or friend to do it, but if not, we’ll have a V.F.W. member or a Legionnaire to do it,” he added.

Each friend or family member will have an opportunity to speak if he or she wishes, the retired career member of the National Guard said.

“I don’t want anybody to feel slighted,” Ard continued.

The military veterans have collected worn flags from a variety of sources. The public part of the Memorial Day program will be followed by a private ceremony, according to flag etiquette, during which the retired flag is incinerated.

“You don’t just throw a flag away in a garbage can,” Ard said. “There’s a certain way to do it.

Contact Ard at 934-8213 or Curtis Lauderdale at 934-1769 for more information.

There are 92 names on the downtown monument. Twelve died in World War I, 50 in World War II, 11 in the Korean War, 15 in the Vietnam War and four to date in the Afghan and Iraqi Wars.