By AMY FORLITI and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press, and staff
COLUMBUS – Ohioans, like all Americans, settled for small processions and online tributes instead of parades Monday as they observed Memorial Day in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ironton/Lawrence County Memorial Day parade in southern Ohio, the nation’s oldest continually held Memorial Day parade at 151 years, usually attracts 35,000 spectators but only a handful of people turned out for this year’s event, which lasted only 17 minutes and took place along mostly empty streets.
Governor Mike DeWine placed a wreath at Veterans Plaza at the Statehouse Sunday.
“Each Memorial Day we remember those throughout history who gave their lives to protect the freedoms we know today. Although we could not gather together to pay tribute to these brave Americans this year, it is still important to take time to recognize the meaning of Memorial Day and remember Ohio’s fallen service members,” he said.
A monument to black soldiers who fought in the Union Army during the Civil War was in place at a cemetery in Springfield for Memorial Day.
The United States Colored Troops monument at Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield bears the names of 139 men interred there.
Dedication had been planned for Monday, but it was been postponed because of pandemic safety precautions. The city’s annual Memorial Day parade was canceled.
The smaller, more subdued ceremonies around the country honored the nation’s military dead and also remembered those lost to the virus.
President Donald Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Virginia; Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made his first public appearance in two months and laid a wreath at a cemetery near his home.
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities warned beach-goers to heed social-distancing rules to avoid a resurgence of the disease that has infected 5.4 million people worldwide and killed over 345,000.