Veterans Day at the American Military Cemetery
This substitute for the usual Veterans Day Service held at the American Cemetery at Brookwood was devised by Angelo Munsel, Superintendant who speaks to you through the video. Angelos research provided the images of all those shown.
The photography, videography & video production is entirely my own. It involved work over several weeks. Thus any errors are mine.
Brigadier General Jefferson J. O'Donnell & Mrs Susan O'Donnell present a wreath and each place a rose at the headstones of Wisconsin men of the Brigadiers home State. Brigadier O'Donnell then salutes all fallen & those memorialised in the Chapel.
The Chapels 18 stained glass lights were created by Reginald Hallward. These show the home states and territories at that time of the men & women of the AEF and their various Corps.The Faces of Those Honoured
Tributes & Homage
None of the Embassies & organisations holding remembrance services were able this year to invite attendance. Ceremonies were conducted with reverence for British & Commonwealth, Canadian, American, French, German, Polish, Italian, Czech, Slovak, Serbian personnel & others by Embassies, the military, families & individuals over several days. The grounds team of the CWGC and ABMC had worked tirelessly to ensure the cemeteries were at their best. Some headstones in the CWGC plots were replaced.
The image below shows the Ambassador of Serbia at the headstone of a WW1 Serbian casualty buried in a dual grave of which there are several.
The slide show has images of an Italian Military, Royal Marine, Household Cavalry & Royal British Legion bugler / trumpeter all of whom played for the services.
Also there is Brigadier General Michael G. Oberneyer who placed a cross personally at the headstone of every Great War & WW2 German casualty. Officers of the Ceremonial Association of Surrey Police laid wreaths for the fallen of many countries. The Polish Memorial with wreath & familiy tributes is seen. On the evening of Armistice Day simulations of WW2 search lights lit the sky above the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial & could be seen for miles around.
Ambassador Aleksandra Joksimović &
Defence Attache, Captain Slobodan Novaković
