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Tribute to heroes: 2026 Memorial Day services honor veterans
Memorial Day at Odin 2026
The color guard enters the Odin Cemetery on May 26 for a Memorial Day program. The Sons of the American Legion Post 286 organized services at the Odin Cemetery, Dubuque Cemetery, Beaver Cemetery, Hoisington Cemetery and St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery. - photo by photos by Susan Thacker/Great Bend Tribune

The Memorial Day program at the Odin Cemetery kicked off multiple programs throughout Barton County on Monday. The speaker was Kenton Renz, vice commander of the Sons of the American Legion No. 286.

Renz noted that the program held a special purpose for many, honoring the bittersweet memories of loved ones who gave their lives for their country and for freedom.

“There are (also) memories of those who served and came home from war to live out their lives among their loved ones. As we visit our cemeteries today, put flowers on the graves of our loved ones and display proudly the American flag, we are doing our part to pay tribute and to remember. For us, this holds a special meaning. Gold Star mothers hold this day as special as they remember a son or daughter who died in service of their country, painfully aware that the passage of time can never heal that sense of loss.

“As we observe today, this Memorial Day, we are showing that we have not forgotten.”

He read General Order No. 11, issued by General John A. Logan, Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, early in May 1868. “The 30th day of May, 1868 is designated for the purpose of strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and now, whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and churchyard in the land. ... Let not circumstance, let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

Kenton Renz S.A.L.
Kenton Renz, vice commander of the S.A.L. Post 286, delivered the program and joined in laying a wreath to honor veterans who died at sea.

Mark Boor read the names of every veteran in the Odin Cemetery – approximately 100 men and women.

This and other ceremonies included the laying of a wreath, an invocation and the playing of “Taps.”

Renz also said, “We’d like to thank and remember Tom Polzin for his years of service in this Memorial Day observance.” Polzin, who passed away May 10, 2026, at his home in Hoisington, was a veteran who presided over many of these ceremonies. This would have been his 30th year to do so.