Memorial Day 1945

Memorial Day Service 83rd Infantry Division, Bad Harzburg, Germany

Original copy of a Memorial Day programme, dated 30 May 1945. Close to the soil on which their comrades so recently died in battle, men of the 83rd attended Memorial Day Services in Bad Harzburg, Germany. Appropriate services will be held in each regiment and integral units of the Division. At Division Headquarters in Bad Harzburg memorial Services started at 10 a.m. in front of the C. P. The 83rd Division band opened the program. Following this the invocation was read by Chaplain William Harris, Assistant Division Chaplain. At the conclusion of the invocation Chaplain Harold Pinkney of the 308th Medics read from the Psalms. The principle address of the day was delivered by Major General Robert C. Macon, Commanding General of the 83rd Division. Following the address, the audience will rise to sing "America." Chaplain Jacob Ott, Chaplain for Special Troops, offered a prayer in solemn memory of America's soldier dead.

A highlight of the Memorial Day-services at Bad Harzburg was the "Flag and Earth" ceremony. Two small bags of earth, each containing soil from the 48 States, were received from a friend by Gen. Macon. As the soldiers bow their heads, the soil from one of these bags was sprinkled at the base of the pole, from the top of which the Stars and Stripes will wave. The contents of the other bag will be sprinkled over a cemetery containing the graves of 83rd Division soldiers. Chaplain Donnelly then read the benediction, which was to be followed by a volley of shots fired by an Honor guard. Then, in hallowed and cherished memory of their fallen comrades, the soldiers will stand at attention as the last echos of the shots mingle with the sound of taps.