LAFAYETTE, La. (KATC) — Fountain Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery, located at 1010 Pandora St. in Lafayette, will once again host an hourlong Memorial Day commemoration ceremony at 9 a.m. Monday.
KATC sat down with the event’s emcee, Robert LeBon of Acadiana Area for Veterans, to discuss the importance of the event’s continuation and changes for this year. He told us that despite the forecast for heavy rain, the event will go on as scheduled, only this time held indoors within the funeral home’s hall.
LeBon, who served in the military reserve, said that while he never saw combat firsthand, he recognized the urgent need to support area veterans, who at the time were those who served in Vietnam.
“When they came home, they was spit on, and stuff thrown on them, people calling them baby killers and stuff like that,” he said. “That's what really, it kind of pissed me off and I just started honoring those veterans and making sure all our veterans that go to war, when they come back, that they will be honored and not disgraced by our country.”
While important to recognize and remember every year, LeBon noted that this year, the meaning of Memorial Day rings louder than in recent years.
“When they go to bed just pray for our fallen, and we've got a lot of troops that are up in Iran and different parts of the country, we need to keep them in our prayers and thoughts because they can't be here for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, or any other holiday,” he told KATC. “They can go to their barbecues or furniture sales and all of that afterwards, just give me that hour — that's all I ask — just that one hour.”
