West Concord remembers those who died in defense of their country

STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN M. JORGENSEN

A row of flags lined the path from the road to the site of the West Concord Memorial Day program.

West Concord residents gathered Monday at the Concord Cemetery to remember those service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their country.
American Legion Langemo Post 295 and Auxiliary conducted Memorial Day services at three local cemeteries.
First stop was at Hegre Cemetery, followed by St. Vincent Cemetery. The main service of the day was at Concord Cemetery, where the program included the Triton High School Band, Legion Color Guard and Rifle Squad, and remarks by Colleen Hayne, the president of the West Concord Historical Society.
Langemo Post Commander Rod Streich welcomed those attending the event. Donna Fitzgerald of the Legion Auxiliary told those in attendance that 162 flags were lining the path to the program. One hundred thirty-five of those flags honored service members and another 27 non-military individuals, including first responders.
After music by the Triton High School Band, directed by Morgan Coy, and a prayer by Post Chaplain Tom Turner, the program was turned over to Hayne, who recalled that while growing up near West Concord one of her favorite things was to walk down the road to their neighbors’, the Langemos. Carl and Art Langemo lived on the home place with their sister, Emma, she said, adding they were like extended grandparents to her.
But what she didn’t know then was that someone was missing from their family. She was an adult before she realized the Langemo Legion Post was named after their brother Nick.
Nick went off to the service in 1917 with the first group of Dodge County boys to serve in World War I, she said. His first challenge was a bout with pneumonia while still in the States, but he recovered and was sent to France, where he was part of the battle at Chateau Thierry in the summer of 1918.
He survived that battle, and in October 1918 he was part of the Argonne battle, a 47-day offensive and the costliest battle in U.S. military history, taking 26,000 lives and 120,000 other casualties.
Langemo was among the American casualties of that battle and is buried in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France.
The Langemo family did not receive official notification of his death at Argonne for four months. A little more than a month after his death, the armistice was signed.
Nick’s father died two years later, perhaps, Hayne said, a victim of “broken heart syndrome.”
In 1926 Nick’s mother presented the Langemo Post with a picture of her son.
Since World War I, Hayne said, more than 30 million Americans have given their lives “as the price of our freedom, to keep the flame of freedom burning and the flag still waving over the land of the free.”
Another West Concord serviceman, George Babcock, died at Saipan in World War II and received two purple hearts and a bronze star. President Roosevelt, Hayne said, wrote to the family, “He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who have died, that freedom might live and grow and increase its blessings.”
How can those living today show their gratitude to those who gave their lives, she asked.
“We have to be willing to give of ourselves. We can participate in events like today. We can use our voices to advocate for better benefits for veterans. We can volunteer for and donate to veterans’ organizations.”
She added reaching out to military families in times of deployment, flying the American flag and taking children and grandchildren to visit the West Concord Historical Society’s Veterans Room to learn more about the local young men and women who served throughout the years are a few more ways.
The program concluded with the salute by the Rifle Squad and the playing of Taps.