‘You can never thank them enough’: Lincoln honors fallen, their families on Memorial Day

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The City of Lincoln honored the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our communities and our country on Monday.

The city hosted several Memorial Day events, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with a ceremony at Wyuka Cemetery.

The next event took place at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery around 11:30 a.m.

Boy Scout Troop 456 conducted a flag folding ceremony, then presented the flag to Arlene Rudebusch.

Her husband, Merle, could not join the military because of a birth defect, but he dedicated a lot of time traveling to nearly every cemetery in Nebraska.

“That’s how we spent our retirement,” Arlene said. “To check out the gravesites of Civil War veterans and record whether they have a gravestone or not.”

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She said Merle helped to get headstones for veterans of all wars, but he had three ancestors who fought in the Civil War, so he was particularly invested in remembering those soldiers.

But Merle died around a year ago, so the flag was presented to Arlene in honor of her husband.

“It was a very nice honor,” she said. “It brought tears to my eyes.”

The featured speaker at the Wyuka and Lincoln Memorial ceremonies, retired Col. Joe Brownell, said Memorial Day is for families of the fallen as well.

“You can never thank them enough, can never recognize them enough,” he said. “While they’ve given the ultimate sacrifice, their families continue. And that’s something they will live with. Every day is their Memorial Day.”