By K.J. Williams
Contributing Writer
Former Marine Sgt. Bill Ebersbach always holds the same memory close each Memorial Day — he recalls his late father.
“My dad died in 1952. He was 30 years old, and he died of wounds that he received in Iwo Jima,” said Ebersbach, 68.
Ebersbach was 6 years old, when his father, the late William Ebersbach, also a Marine, died from injuries related to the shrapnel wounds he received in combat seven years prior, in 1945, during World War II. Like his late father, who received the purple heart, Bill Ebersbach also received the purple heart — three times — for injuries he sustained in Vietnam in 1966, 1967, and 1970.
With few memories of his father due to his father’s death at a young age, Bill Ebersbach makes sure he remembers his father’s sacrifice on Memorial Day.
The younger Ebersbach is the commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 636. Along with other members of the chapter, he plans to attend the Memorial Day event scheduled for 11 a.m. May 25 at the Wilmington National Cemetery, located at 2011 Market St.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website states: “Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while in the military service.”
Regionally, The New Hanover Veterans Council has organized a Memorial Day service at the cemetery since the council’s inception in 1991, said retired U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Frank Roberts, the council’s chairman.
“To me, it’s a way for us to honor all of the military members and veterans who have served their country and are no longer with us,” Roberts said. The council is comprised of elected members who belong to nationally recognized veterans organizations.
Another member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Charles “Chuck” Kroger, 91, who received a purple heart for his World War II injury when he was an Army communication sergeant, noted Memorial Day is a time to recognize those who weren’t always appreciated for their military service at the beginning, referring to Korean and Vietnam war veterans.
That delayed appreciation for those who served in the Vietnam War when they returned home will be the subject of the address delivered by keynote speaker Retired Army Reserves Master Sgt. Rossie Nance, 66, during the Wilmington National Cemetery event. Nance, the state president of the N.C. Vietnam Veterans of America, and also a member of the military Order of the Purple Heart, said he will talk about the hostility initially faced by the military who served in the Vietnam War.
Roberts said the ceremony will include a bell tolling during which a bell will ring twice each time the names of 15 deceased veterans are read aloud. There are several hundred names that will be read, representing regional veterans who have died since Memorial Day in 2014. Two bells will be rung separately to honor Ron Holtberg, a member of the Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 11, who died in April. Holtberg was an advocate for veterans and their families, helping them secure their military benefits, Roberts said.
The ceremony will begin with a Call to Order by Roberts and an Advancement of Colors by the American Legion Post 10 Honor Guard. There will be laying of memorial wreaths before Taps is played. Scheduled speakers include Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and Jonathan Barfield Jr., chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners.
Joe Stanley, 58, a retired chief petty officer in the Navy, who serves as commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2573, said of the ceremony: “It’s a time for us to reflect on the men and women who came before us and the ones who are serving now, and the future sailors, marines, soldiers, and airmen.”
Retired Army 1st Sgt. Gilberto “Gil” Navarrette,69, a past commander of the Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 11, who served in the military for 25 years, said he thinks about the ones that didn’t come back from combat.
“Remember, all of us were vulnerable, but some of us were more fortunate than others. We came home. They didn’t,” he said.
Jon Sammis, 83, who belongs to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said in 1952, he was serving in Korea as a Naval Hospital Corpsman when sniper fire wounded him in his right arm and right leg. Sammis, who retired as a Hospital Corpsman 2nd class, recalls the danger of his military service every Memorial Day.
“I think a lot about the people who didn’t come back, and I also start thinking about how lucky I was to be able to come back because the Navy (Hospital) Corps has a very high casualty rate,” he said. “It’s the nature of the job because when a Marine gets wounded, you have to go out and treat them — that usually means being under fire.”
Other Memorial Day events in the area include a 5:45 p.m. free event on the deck of Battleship North Carolina. The ceremony plans include a military band and a guest speaker.
