Busy holiday for Troy VFW
Troy VFW’s oldest active member, Kenneth Hays, 91, is known as “Ken” or “Kenny.” (Elka Wood/The Western News)
Members of the VFW in Troy gathered first at Milnor Lake cemetery at 11 a.m., then at Troy cemetery at noon and onto Boyd Cemetery in the Yaak at 2 p.m. for memorial day ceremonies on one of the warmest memorial days on record.
Only a handful of citizens turned out for Milnor Lake’s ceremony, though the graves were noticeably tidy and swept clean and the trash cans full. A group of VFW members had gathered last week to do their annual clean up, including Troy’s oldest active member, Kenneth Hays, 91, often known as “Ken” or “Kenny.”
“You oughta have been out here for the clean up,” said Jerry Erickson with a laugh. “Kenny was using a pitchfork to move pine needles.”
Hays, who grew up in Noxon, served for the last two years of World War Two after being drafted out of high school. He served on the USS New Jersey in the pacific, mostly Japan.
“I watched the signing of the Japanese instrument of surrender” — a treaty signed by international players on the deck of USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945 that marked the end of WWII — “from an easy chair on the deck,” he said. “Not much of an easy chair compared to today, it was hard metal, but still.”
VFW member Mark Olsen’s nephew Lee Olsen was the American flag bearer for the ceremony. Raised in Libby, Lee now lives in Deer Park where he is an aircraft mechanic for Fed Ex.
“It was an honor to be here and be part of it,” he said.
As the VFW members rolled up their flags to continue their work at the Troy cemetery, a few citizens lingered in the dappled sun to have a quiet moment with lost loved ones, tending to their graves and standing in contemplation.