BELLE FOURCHE—VFW Post 3312 in Belle Fourche invites the public to a special Memorial Day service on May 25 at 9 a.m. at Pine Slope Cemetery.
“We always do the Memorial Day service at the cemetery, and we’ve got a guest speaker coming from Arizona,” explained JayCyn Ager, VFW member. “He spent more than 30 years in the Coast Guard, and he’s flying up to be our guest speaker.”
Ager knows the guest speaker, Master Chief Petty Officer Steven M. Fields. “I served with him for five of his 30 years.”
VFW Post 3312 is hoping that by having a special speaker from farther away, more people will show up for the event. “We want more people to come. I mean, we get a pretty good turnout there, but the last couple years there hasn’t been as much and I’d like to get back to where it was when I was a kid. That place was packed for Memorial Day,” said Ager.
As a veteran, Ager takes his service seriously. “To me, it’s more of a duty, just because I feel that I need to—we need to remember the people.”
“Once you are in the military, it doesn’t end because you got out,” shared Chuck Lawless, VFW member.
“When you sign up (for the military), you don’t really know what’s going on, but when you get out, it’s a lifelong commitment, not just—I did my five years and I am done,” said Ager. “All the VFW, any member of any service really—it’s funny how if you were in the military and I didn’t even know you, you’re still my brother, because there’s a connection, there always is.”
The VFW is planning for a full service on Memorial Day. “We will have the music, the flags and the honor guard will have the three-round volley,” shared Ager. “It’s something that I enjoy doing.”
If you would like to help raise flags on the morning of Memorial Day, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. They have to raise and lower 140 flags. Arrive at the Pine Slope main entrance at 5:45 a.m., with flags going up at 6 a.m. The VFW uses Funeral Honor flags donated by families around Pine Slope Cemetery. The flags once draped the coffin or accompanied the cremains of a departed service member.
To take down the flags after the ceremony, meet at 1:30 p.m. at the Pine Slope main entrance. If the weather doesn’t cooperate and it is rainy, foggy, high humidity or no sunshine, the flags will not be raised.
Taps Across America will be played from Memorial Hill at exactly 3 p.m., joining other musicians all across the United States playing Taps at the same time.
Information on the Memorial Day guest speaker:
Master Chief Petty Officer Steven M. Fields served more than three decades in the United States sea services, beginning his military career in the U.S. Navy from 1985 to 1989 before continuing with the U.S. Coast Guard from August 1990 until his retirement in July 2016. Rising to the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, he served as an Operational Specialist with more than 16 years of sea time, providing operational command and control, maritime domain awareness and tactical expertise across a wide range of missions, including counter-drug and fisheries law enforcement.
Throughout his career, Master Chief Fields served in numerous operational and leadership assignments, including aboard the USS Ranger, USCGC Venturous, USCGC Steadfast, USCGC Chase and USCGC Hamilton, where he held senior watchstanding and Combat Information Center leadership roles. His shore assignments included command center supervision, vessel traffic management in Seattle, housing program management in San Diego, Combat Systems Afloat Training Coordination for the Pacific Fleet and Pacific Area C4IT Program Manager. He also deployed in support of overseas contingency operations as the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of the Patrol Forces Southwest Asia RAID Detachment.
Master Chief Fields’ service is recognized by numerous personal and unit awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard and Navy Commendation Medals, Coast Guard and Navy Achievement Medals and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, along with multiple additional honors. He is married to his wife, Amey, and recently celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary. Together they share five children and two grandchildren, and their son, Christopher, proudly continues the family tradition of service as an Operational Specialist in the United States Coast Guard.
For more information on Veterans Memorial Avenue of Flags, or if you wish to donate a Funeral Honors flag to be flown, you may Facebook message VFW Post 3312 or Wm. Blaine Anderson.
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