Tina Matz and her mother, Joanne Matz, visited the grave of Tina’s grandfather, Vernon Easterling Sr., a Battle of the Bulge veteran, on Thursday at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent. After walking among the flags placed ahead of Memorial Day, they also retrieved the remains of Joanne’s late husband, Carl Matz, who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Their goal is to reinter him alongside his comrades at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Tahoma National Cemetery, established in November 1993 at the foothills of Mount Rainier, is managed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It is one of many sites in the region holding ceremonies Monday to honor Memorial Day, dedicated to American service members who died in the line of duty. The event at Tahoma Cemetery will take place at 1:00 p.m., and the ceremony at Fort Lawton Cemetery in Seattle is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
Other events include a ceremony at the Memorial Garden on University Street in Seattle at 10:00 a.m., where this year special recognition will be given to Ariana Lynce Savino, one of six aviators who died in March when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery on Aurora Avenue will conduct a flag placement at 10:00 a.m., followed by a service at 11:00 a.m. A full list of events is available on the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs website.
Based on: Remembering WA’s fallen for Memorial Day