GREEN HILL CEMETERY HOSTS ANNUAL VETERANS DAY MEMORIAL SERVICE
By Robb Helfrick
Green Hill Cemetery commemorated Veterans Day with an annual tradition by adding the names of seven service members to a memorial on its grounds. The event brought together veterans, their loved ones, Green Hill staff, and other community members for a touching ceremony.
Ritchie Warner, Vice President of the Green Hill Cemetery Association, welcomed attendees. He acknowledged the presence of a special Army veteran in the audience, Bill Wagaman of Waynesboro. Wagaman, 101 years old, served in World War II in Italy, France, and Germany. He was captured in France and was a POW for nine months.
The speaker for the event was the Reverend Steven Sheldon, a U.S. Navy veteran. Sheldon spoke from the heart, saying he symbolized all veterans. “I’m here to represent the majority of men and women who served.” He noted the service began on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour, the same time the Armistice was signed to end World War 1 in 1918.
Sheldon also researched Green Hill’s history, saying that of the nearly 17,000 burials, 5,000 were veterans. “I spent time looking at the memorial,” Sheldon said. “I studied the names and counted them. I want to share some facts about the memorial.”
He noted all military branches were represented by over 300 individuals on the monument. The group had served in conflicts ranging from the Civil War to the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sheldon noticed one particular service member on that wall who served in three wars.
The ceremony was moved indoors due to gusty winds and unseasonable cold weather. Despite delivering his speech indoors, Rev. Sheldon praised Green Hill’s manicured grounds. “It’s a beautiful place and a fitting spot for our veterans’ memorial.”
Sheldon noted that after most veterans’ service, they returned home to become teachers, doctors, fathers, mothers, and businesspeople. They served their communities and their families, and contributed all the important aspects that make life worth living.
Rev. Sheldon described a lesson from his service that has stayed with him. “You learn something when you become a veteran,” Sheldon said. “You can leave the military, but the military never leaves you. It’s always a part of who you are.” He spoke of veterans’ commitment to honor, duty, respect, loyalty, and their love for country, family, and God.
After Sheldon’s speech, Tom McCloud, a Green Hill Cemetery Director, read “In Flanders Fields,” a poem forever linked to Veterans Day when John McCrae created the touching work to remember lost World War I soldiers.
John Wilkinson, also a Green Hill Director, introduced the seven individual veterans whose names were placed on the monument in 2025. Those honored were Army service members: Marion Biesecker, SGT, Lewis Hough, PVT, William Hough, TEC4, William Stanley, SGT, AAF, and Sara Thomas, SP4. From the Navy, Eugene Thomas, F1, was recognized, and Air Force veteran, James Pentz, A2C, was added to the honored names on Green Hill’s memorial.
After Warner thanked the church and other sponsors, CPT Brent Manges from the Pennsylvania National Guard and Pastor at Salem Church gave the benediction, and Randy Carlton performed a moving rendition of “Taps” to conclude the service.
After the ceremony, veteran Bill Wagaman spoke about his service in World War II. During a harrowing experience, his German captors moved him and his comrades five times as the war’s European theatre shifted. After his liberation, Wagaman regained his physical strength and then returned to a full life back in the States, which included a successful career with Frick Company.
For future veteran recognition at Green Hill, families and loved ones of veterans can have names added to the monument by visiting or contacting the cemetery (717-762-2759) and completing an application. The only qualification for inclusion is that the veteran must be buried (or plan to be buried) at Green Hill.
The annual Veterans Day ceremony continued a tradition of honoring service members who live or have lived in the Waynesboro area. The names of seven new veterans are now etched on the Green Hill memorial, and the memory of their service and courage lives on.
