Remarks by a city commissioner concerning her war-related experiences will be one of the highlights at Mount Airy’s Memorial Day observance on Monday.

The service, to include representatives of local veterans organizations and municipal officials, is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the city War Memorial at the corner of South Main and Rockford streets. The public is encouraged to attend and show its support for the contributions of deceased military personnel.

Teresa Lewis, the newest member of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners, will provide the invocation for the observance along with special remarks.

“First and foremost, I’ll be offering words of appreciation for soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice,” Lewis said Friday of the event to be held appropriately at the monument listing names of Surry County’s war dead.

Lewis also will be sharing two firsthand experiences that she said have made her appreciate the role of America’s military.

Since her father, Monroe Donathan, was a longtime member of the U.S. Air Force, duty assignments required his family to live in many different countries. At one point, when Lewis was only 5, he was stationed in Pakistan during a war between that nation and neighboring India.

Because of the hostilities, windows in the area were painted black and covered with quilts, “and foxholes were dug in all the backyards,” Lewis recalled. Nights frequently were interrupted by air-raid sirens.

“It was pretty scary,” Lewis said.

She also will speak on another war-related experience that occurred while the family was in England in 1968, when her father learned that a nephew — James F. Turney of Surry County — had been killed in Vietnam.

“He left here with a young, pregnant wife,” recalled Lewis, who said that episode brought the “price of war” close to home to her.

But the main message Lewis hopes to convey Monday surrounds the need for everyone to “take a few minutes and even longer to remember the sacrifices that have been made in order for us to be free.”

Program Schedule

The city Memorial Day service will begin with a call to order by Mayor Pro Tem Todd Harris, who’ll be subbing for Mayor Deborah Cochran. She will be unable to attend due to work-related obligations.

A presentation of colors is planned next, by the city Honor Guard, just before the National Anthem is rendered by Elizabeth Martin.

After the posting of colors by the Honor Guard, the invocation will be delivered by Lewis and Harris will read a Memorial Day proclamation.

Next on the schedule is the address by Lewis, and then the traditional placing of a wreath will be conducted by the Honor Guard.

Martin then will sing “God Bless America” and a rifle volley salute is planned by the Honor Guard of local American Legion Post 123 and Marines Corps League of Surry County, Detachment 1322.

The playing of “Taps” by the American Legion Honor Guard and the withdrawal of colors by the city Honor Guard will conclude the program.

Monday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy conditions with highs in the upper 80s.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.