WAYNESBORO – The 2025 Veterans Day program, originally planned for Green Hill Cemetery, shifted indoors to the Otterbein Church on Tuesday due to windy conditions. The event drew community members together to honor local military veterans with a heartfelt lineup of tributes and remembrances.
Green Hill Cemetery Association Vice President Ritchie Warner served as master of ceremonies. In his opening remarks, Warner extended a special welcome to 101-year-old Charles “Bill” Wagaman, a World War II veteran who served in the Army’s 36th Infantry Division.
Chaplain Brent Manges, a captain in the Pennsylvania National Guard and pastor at Salem Church, delivered the invocation.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance and a recorded rendition of the National Anthem the featured speaker took the stage. Rev. Steven R. Sheldon, a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a radioman, presented the keynote address. Sheldon highlighted the profound sacrifices of the veterans buried at Green Hill Cemetery, noting that 164 individuals who served in World War I and World War II rest there eternally.
The program continued with a poignant reading of “In Flanders Fields,” the iconic World War I poem written in 1915 by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae. Green Hill Cemetery Association Director Tom McCloud recited the verses.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow.
Between the crosses, row on row.
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
McCloud’s recitation was followed by a dedication to the newest honorees on the Green Hill Cemetery Military Monument. Cemetery Association Director John S. Wilkinson read the names of the seven veterans enshrined this year, expressing gratitude for their service:
U.S. Army
- Marion Richard Biesecker, S/SGT
- Lewis W. Hough, PVT
- William L. Hough, TEC4
- William F. Stanley, SGT AAF
- Sara Ann Thomas, SP4
U.S. Navy
- Eugene Denver Thomas, F1
U.S. Air Force
- James H. Pentz, A2C
The ceremony concluded with the benediction offered by Chaplain Manges, followed by a rendition of “Taps”.
The Green Hill Cemetery Association extends its thanks to all participants and attendees. Key contributors included:
Superintendent Todd A. Dorsett
Staff Roger Betts, Andrew Droneburg, Cooper Tosten, Thomas Woodring
Board of Directors Kimberly Shockey, T. A. Dorsett, Thomas L. McCloud, Stephen E. Patterson, F. Marshall Rock, A. Ritchie Warner, John S. Wilkinson
This event underscored the community’s enduring commitment to remembering and respecting those who served.
