‘A time to celebrate’: Lincoln families and veterans come together for Memorial Day

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Many groups across the capital city are coming together to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Cleaning graves, placing “buddy” poppies, hosting ceremonies and many more events to celebrate the true meaning behind Memorial Day.

A member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 131, Mike Kunce, told Channel 8 this weekend is definitely a time for celebration.

“It really is a time to celebrate so it is great that people do enjoy it,” he said. “We live in such a great country. But it was something that people fought for, people died for. We really hope people do enjoy the weekend, just doing so in a way that honors and remembers those that fought so hard to make sure that we can enjoy it.”

In preparation for this weekend, Kunce said they clean off several grave sites to keep even the oldest fallen soldiers’ memories alive.

“Just going back and remembering those who maybe won’t have somebody or a family member who may not be caring for that grave this weekend,” he said. “We want to make sure that it still gets the attention it deserves. As more and more people come to visit the cemeteries and visit the memorial gardens, we just want to make sure that it’s shown in the best possible way. A lot of groups participate in that so it helps people that maybe aren’t veterans themselves remember what the real reason for the weekend is.”

A tradition that dates back to the early 1900s is handing out “buddy” poppies in honor of those who served.

“The reason for handing them out is just to make sure that people do remember them and have a good way to honor their family and their friends they’ve lost,” Kunce said. “But also, we use that to collect money to help the veterans locally in need, that maybe can’t afford food or rent or have a situation in life that they need some assistance.”