Memorial Day in photos

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on May 26, 2025

Boy Scout a Troop 31 bring in the colors to start the annual Memorial Day ceremony in Chadds Ford.

Memorial Day ceremonies continued Monday at Brandywine Baptist Church in Chadds Ford Township, and Kennett Square had its annual parade.

In Chadds Ford, former Army Capt. Michael O’Shaughnessy, a veteran of the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm, gave a brief history of Memorial, of how it can be traced to just after the Civil War.

Jonah, 7, places a flower at the grave of a U.S. veteran, his great-grandfather, who served during WWII and Korea.

O’Shaughnessy said activities to honor the fallen had been held in both northern and southern towns, with flowers placed on the graves of those who were killed. In 1866, a Georgia woman named Mary Ann Williams organized the southern states to honor their dead by putting flowers on their graves. In 1868, Gen. John Logan organized Union veterans of the war to honor their fallen comrades in the same manner.

The day was originally known as Decoration Day but officially changed to Memorial Day in 1971, he said. It now honors the fallen from all the wars in which the country has been engaged.

An honor guard of military veterans salutes deceased veterans who are buried in the Brandywine Baptist Church Cemetery.

Colors lead off the parade in Kennett Square.

Dancin’ and prancin’ on Broad Street in the borough.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.