Community remembers those who paid the price of freedom

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Monday, May 27, 2013, 3:30 p.m. — A larger-than-usual crowd turned out at the Bardstown Cemetery for the annual Memorial Day observance sponsored by American Legion Posts 121 and 167.

Kenny Fogle reprised his role as master of ceremonies for the observance, a role he took on after the death of Roy Brooks Jr. several years ago.

In his invocation, Karl Lusk, pastor of the Espicopal Church of the Ascension and a emergency response chaplain asked for God’s assistance to “help us put aside our differences — politically, religiously or otherwise, and concentrate on being the community formed today as we honor those who have kept our nation free.”

Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin was featured speaker Monday at the community Memorial Day service at the Bardstown Cemetery. Click image to enlarge.

Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin was the featured speaker, who told the crowd a story of how his great-grandmother told him about a photo on her living room wall of a man in a military uniform.

McCubbin said he asked who the man was, and she told him the man in the photo was her brother who served and died in World War II. The man was single and had no family, adding that she believed it important that her brother’s sacrifice be remembered and honored by his family.

Commanders of American Legion Posts 121 and 167, Pete Trzop and Greg “Spoony” Rogers, lay a wreath to honor those who paid freedom’s ultimate price. Click to enlarge.

His great-grandmother gave him a box of mementos from the man’s military service, including various medals and campaign ribbons. McCubbin said he kept the box and it moved with him through the years, and it helped fuel is later passion for genealogy.

Genealogy is a lot like police work, he quipped. “I get a name, and I have to dig up the rest.”

But it his passion for genealogy that led him to find out more about the man in the picture. After he had his DNA sampled, and by looking for a single genetic marker passed by the males in his family lineage, he was able to connect to other members of the McCubbin clan.

• Visit the Gazette’s Facebook page for more photos from the Memorial Day observance.

All were named McCubbin or a some variation — all except one. A man in England carried the gene, but had a different last name. McCubbin’s research eventually led to the discovery that the man was the son of Robert McCubbin, the great-uncle whose photo hung on his great-grandmother’s wall.

The families connected, and McCubbin learned more about his great-uncle’s military service. Robert McCubbin was part of the June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion. He fought with the 29th Infantry Division, and his unit was the first to land on Omaha Beach and died six weeks later while working to liberate a French village.

Bardstown Mayor Bill Sheckles welcomed guests who attended the Memorial Day observance. Click to enlarge.

McCubbin said he recalled the instructions he received from his great-grandmother to do something to honor the sacrifices of his great-uncle. Now, his great-uncle would not be a soldier who would just fade into history with no family to commemorate the sacrifice he made. He had a son and family who will honor his ultimate sacrifice.

McCubbin also noted that he discovered in his genealogy that every generation had at least one family member serve in the military — a tradition that is carried through to today. “My son is the eighth generation to serve in the U.S. Army in Kuwait,” he said.

As McCubbin concluded, he apologized for leaving the memorial Day service to meet with the family of fallen Office Jason Ellis. McCubbin received a standing ovation as he left the podium.

Bardstown Mayor Bill Sheckles spoke briefly, thanking those who made the annual ceremony possible, asked visitors to keep the family of Bardstown Police Officer Jason Ellis and the local law enforcement in their thoughts and prayers.

City Hall will be shut down Thursday in honor of Officer Ellis, Sheckles said, and he has directed all flags flown at half staff until sundown on Thursday, the day of his Officer Ellis’ funeral.

To conclude the ceremony, Pete Trzop and Greg “Spoony” Rogers, commanders of American Legion Post 121 and 167, jointly laid a wreath to honor the fallen soldiers.

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