ANDOVER – The Percy D. Hyatt American Legion Post 226 was on the move Memorial Day morning, as members paid tribute to veterans at 11 cemeteries in the Andover area.
A persistent fog clung in the air, but there was no fog of memory as the American Legion members remembered those who served.
Joe Paul, the Commander of the Post, said 15 from the Post were taking part in the honors at the cemeteries.
Beginning at 7 a.m., they were scheduled to visit Congregational Cemetery (Andover); Maple Grove Cemetery (Andover); East Williamsfield Cemetery (Lake Road); Williamsfield Cemetery (State Route 7); West Williamsfield Cemetery; Wayne Cemetery; Cherry Valley Cemetery; West Andover Cemetery; Richmond Center Cemetery (State Route 7); Dart Cemetery (Lake Road); and Padanaram Cemetery (Lake Road).
Paul noted that at Maple Grove Cemetery, they fired over the grave of the American Legion Post’s namesake, Percy D. Hyatt, who was killed in action in World War I.
Paul was proud that the American Legion remembered Hyatt, who was born in Richmond Center in 1894.
“I think that’s an honor,” he said.
Paul provided some history about Hyatt, who he talked about in his speech during the Memorial Day ceremony held later in the day at Andover Square, where a parade was also to be held.
According to Paul, Hyatt was assigned to the 42nd Division after joining the U.S. Army in World War I in 1917.
After training at Camp Perry, Ohio and Camp Mills in Long Island, N.Y., Hyatt boarded a ship and headed to France, where he was on the trench line for about 150 days.
“World War I, that was a long time,” Paul said.
He noted that Hyatt, who was pummeled by artillery day and night, suffered from a severe case of shellshock, which he said was PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) “plus a whole lot more.”
Paul noted that according to Hyatt’s obituary, he still chose to stay with his unit, which was in an offensive operation two weeks later in July 1918 that turned the tide of the war.
“That’s service,” Paul said, guessing that Hyatt was probably good friends with his fellow soldiers in the trenches and didn’t want to leave them.
“They moved forward and he and his squad were moving up a hill in an offensive operation and got hit by artillery fire and the entire squad was killed, including Percy,” he said.
As the caravan of vehicles with the American Legion members traveled from cemetery to cemetery, the Color Guard and Rifle Squad performed the honors.
A prayer was also read: “Eternal God, we thank Thee for this hallowed soil. Make us worthy; we pray Thee to guard our heritage of pride through all the years to come. In memory of these, our dead, may we pledge to our beloved land the same service and the same devotion. And, O Lord, secure to us evermore the peace for which our comrades died. Amen.”
As part of the Memorial Day ceremony in Andover, Venie Hinson from the Daughters of the American Revolution was to present Quilts of Honor to three Legionnaires: Tom Hitchcock, Rex Britton and Joe Paul.
