Town Talk Church Point
Town Talk Church Point
Honoring the Fallen: Church Point 21
Leander Daigle, commander of VFW Post in Church Point and holder of numerous veterans' organization titles, discusses the unique Church Point 21 Memorial Day event that honors fallen local veterans.
• Annual three-day vigil from sunup to sundown on Memorial Day weekend (24th-26th) at the Depot on Main Street
• 21 white crosses represent Church Point locals killed in action, average age 19
• Crosses made by local high school students to honor those "who never got to come home"
• Hourly changing of the guard includes veterans, Civil Air Patrol, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and civilians
• Event draws visitors from across Louisiana, including Vietnam refugees seeking connections
• Closing ceremony Monday at 6pm features a formal military walk, reading of names, bell-ringing, 21-gun salute and taps
• No admission charge - just come to witness, remember, and learn
• Memorial Day about honoring the fallen: "If we quit telling their story, their story dies"
Welcome to another Town Talk podcast. It is Chris Mayor Spanky, and we have a guest today. We have Mr Leander Daigle and I was going to introduce you as your official title, but I know it's a big one. You've got multiple titles, lee, so I'm going to leave that up to you. Tell us your title officially.
Speaker 2:All right. I am the commander of the VFW post here in Church Point. I am the senior vice commander of the American Legion post here in Church Point. I'm the district quartermaster for District 7, which is incorporating us Acadia Parish and St Landry Parish. I have a few state offices and I have a couple of national offices. So it's just when they find someone that can actually do a little bit they load the wagon.
Speaker 3:Don't worry about the mule Mayor, did you know?
Speaker 1:that we were in the presence of greatness today. Man, no doubt I'm just a mayor. I'm giving him a hard time. But, Lee man, thank you for your service. I know you've been in the military for a while Would you care to tell everybody your military background.
Speaker 2:Well, I joined the Air Force. I spent 20 years there. I spent most of my time in Southeast Asia. I was mostly special ops, so I was a flying crew chief, flying maintenance. So basically I got to fly aircraft when they were broken, been to a lot of places, been to a few hot zones, pretty much everywhere, anywhere.
Speaker 1:We pretty much island hopped on the southeast side of the hemisphere in 20 years you've been, or you were right, because you you're officially retired, now, yes, and then now you have 18 titles with the vfw I have 18 titles with the vfw american legion and they all pay absolutely nothing. There's an event coming up Mayor.
Speaker 3:You want to talk about that, the Church Point 21 event that happens every year here in town Every Memorial Day. It's a great event that goes on I mean the last eight years I think they understood eight or nine years, correct and it's a very special one for Church Point. A lot of people from out of town come in to see this event and I mean I've been watching it for the past six years and it's always a success. So we're glad that it happens and we welcome it every year.
Speaker 1:What are the dates and times this year? Lee?
Speaker 2:Well, there is no times. It's pretty much from sunup to sundown, so we basically follow the natural clock and it'll be the 24th, 25th and 26th. So basically Saturday, sunday and Monday we try to do something a little different than every other post or every other event or every other city. Normally you have a gray-haired man telling you for 15, 30 minutes about what Memorial Day is and what should be and what you should do and how you acknowledge it and stuff, and we're just showing you this is what Memorial Day is about. We have 21 that were killed in action from our little town and we only have four red lights. So what I did is I went to the high school, talked to the ag department and we had kids from Church Point make crosses for kids from Church Point that never got to come home. That's the basic message of everything.
Speaker 2:All these guys, I think we had one that was married but he did not have kids. That's Leroy Frank. But all the rest were not married. Their average age was 19. So it's just great nieces and great nephews, friends and family. That's it. So if we quit telling their story, their story dies. That's basically the gist of it. Now they would still like to have a beer and eat barbecue. So please still do that, but just take a minute or two and remember these guys.
Speaker 1:And I know this is personal for you, lee and I wanted to ask you how did this get started? Do you want to speak on that?
Speaker 2:Well, with the VFW, it's Veterans of Foreign Wars, so everyone in the VFW had to go overseas during a wartime situation, so most of them seen combat. Some were a little bit in the rear with the gear, but these guys are 21. There are 21 that we have on our wall. There's pictures and I kept looking at the pictures going well, why are we the only ones seeing them? So I came up with this and we basically put it out on Main Street at the depot and we have it there and the guys were all the other veterans were like, well, let's just have it for this hour and that hour, but that doesn't make a significant impact on what should be in there. I didn't want to be like everybody else. I wanted to show an example of this is what happens and this is what it is.
Speaker 2:And personally for me, I started the three-day vigil from sunup to sundown, because when you're in a foxhole you can't say oh, it's 5 o'clock, I brought the wrong bullets, can I stop? No. So we just basically picked from sun up to sundown all three days. We did have one of the army guys say well, let's have a closing ceremony. So at 1800 hours on 6 PM on our last day, we have the last walk and and, uh, we work with the fire department and, uh, the police chief and stuff and they pretty much close Main Street down and we actually have someone in a uniform, a service member in a uniform, show up.
Speaker 2:This year will be very special. For the past many years now, it's been kind of an unwritten requirement that the VFW state commander show up at our function. There's multiple functions throughout Louisiana but they're almost required to come here, but they do. So this year we have the VFW state commander is doing the last walk, colonel Debbie McAhaney, and she will be here doing the last walk and also she will be the highest ranking person that's actually done the last walk this year. I've already coordinated with the Silver Air Patrol and Lafayette and they will be doing most of the walks on Saturday. We have.
Speaker 2:Boy Scouts will come out and do it. We have Girl Scouts that'll come out and do it and any veteran and any civilian if they want to do it, to help and support come. It grows by leaps and balances. You have a bunch of people that'll show up and just look. You'll have a lot of people that'll do drive-bys just because it's so hot. A lot of times the local public has been great for us. Every time we turn around we have food given to us or water's given to us. They're very respectful and they just want to learn. We did a few samples and stuff out with the TV and somehow we had a family, a couple, come in from Houma. According to them, they were just driving around. You don't just drive around in Houma and end up in Church Point.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, mayor, you would love for that to be, but it's just not possible. That's not normal.
Speaker 2:And they showed up with yellow roses and requested that we leave yellow roses and we worked like hell to keep those yellow roses alive for three days, but we did. We did have two ladies come in from Abbeville and they come in pretty much every year. They just come for a little while and they were refugees from Vietnam.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:They wanted to know if we had any Vietnam veterans. We have three. Do you know what happened to them? Where they were refugees from Vietnam. Okay, they wanted to know if we had any Vietnam veterans. We have three. Do you know what happened to them? Where they were? And I was like, well, why do you ask? We wanted to know if they were ever near our village or our province. So we went and looked through the books. I've got data on all the guys and one of them was killed in the village next to hers in the same province. Wow, they show up every year. Wow. So it not only touches this town, it touches a lot of people, yeah.
Speaker 1:Now, did you see this type of ceremony done before? No, so this is your creation.
Speaker 2:This is your ceremony. In a way, this is pretty much all the veterans putting their bits here and there. Okay, so you all came together.
Speaker 1:Yes so this is really not getting the idea from something else. No, this is something that was was born. The idea was raised here and is growing here in church.
Speaker 2:Point yes, 100. We do have bikers, that'll come through and stuff. And I would put it on facebook and a lot of the media's outlets if you're riding around, just come, look, it doesn't't hurt.
Speaker 1:Mayor, anything you want to add or any questions for Lee.
Speaker 3:Memorial Day, like he said, just to think about more than just barbecue and drink a few, you know it's. Let's think about the ones that gave the ultimate sacrifice to where we can do what we do every day, 365 days a year, because they're the ones that paved that path for us. So that's why I mean this is a great event and I'm glad Church Point's the one that hosts it, absolutely, and I'd like to thank the American Legion and the VFW for doing it at Veterans Park, at the Depot over there. You know it's a good tradition to have. It's very positive and it's very necessary for everything that we believe in.
Speaker 1:And another thing. I want to bring this up. I'm sure you're going to agree with it, Leander, but Memorial Day is a day of reverence, right? Is that the right way to put it? Yes, and you don't want to say Happy Memorial Day? That's a term that's not really used. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 2:And a lot of people say well, thank you for your service and stuff, but this weekend, this day, it's not ours, it's the other guys. So it's just take a moment and just think about them. That's all it is, because they took their last breath in a foreign land, for us, no ifs, ands or buts, and they're not coming home. Their life is done and over with and it's history and if we quit telling the story, it dies.
Speaker 1:Is there anything else you want to add before we wrap up?
Speaker 2:That's about it. Just come and look, come and watch. If you have questions, ask. That's why we're there. We're not there to tell you what to do and how to do it on Memorial Day. We're caretakers. If something falls, we pick it up. If we need to clean it, we clean it.
Speaker 1:It's their day and that's it. Can you give us just another little outline of when it's happening? Where it's happening, days, all that stuff?
Speaker 2:Roger that it's in Church Point, right down Main Street, pretty much in the White crosses that were cut and built by students, children or kids from Church Point Four kids from Church Point that never got to come home. It's all weekend long Saturday, sunday and Monday it's from sunup to sundown. Normally the first century that walks out is at 6 o'clock in the morning and the last one is at 8 o'clock. And then the last day we have a closing ceremony at 1800 at 6 pm and that's when we have the last ceremonial walk, which is normally done with a military personnel that is in their mess dress or their blues, their class a's, and they walk with an m1 gram or1903, Springfield yes, 1903. We still have it, it's still an active rifle and it's still very, that was just a couple years ago Just a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2:Yes, after the walk we say all their names and we ask for family and friends to come and ring a bell for them. If you're there, we'll let you ring the bell. If not, one of the members will ring the bell. If you're there, we'll let you ring the bell. If not one of the members will ring the bell, they'll have a 21-gun salute and then we play taps and then we do it again next year, every year like clockwork.
Speaker 1:What an amazing event it's been that way for. Is it officially nine?
Speaker 2:I want to say I think it's officially nine years this time, and the veterans are there. They'll come back and forth and that's what it is for. It's just a little time, and if you want to hear war stories, just come and listen.
Speaker 1:And there's no charge for this. No no, there's nothing involved money-wise.
Speaker 2:Y'all are just there to honor and remember Right, 100%.
Speaker 2:Now. If you want to give donations, you can. We'll never refuse money, but it's not required. We're just here to stop and have a good time. And also at the depot where all the veterans hang. We try to stay far back away from it, mostly because it's shaded and it is a little hot there in May. But you can come there. You can see the weapons. We'll show you a couple of souvenirs here and there. I've got sand from Iwo Jima. I've been to Iwo Jima three times. I've got casings from an A-10. The veterans have a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1:What a great day. It's going to be right, correct A great few days. A great weekend, that's correct, that's correct.
Speaker 2:And the more people we have, the better off it is. And you know it's long days, don't get me wrong. And, uh, some of the veterans got more gray hair than me, so they complain a lot, but it's all right. It's amazing how, uh, we have one civilian that always brings us watermelon and they just wait and wait and it's just. It's amazing how these 70 and 80 year old men just look like 10 year olds when that ice chest with watermelon shows up. And it's just watermelon. He paid, paid $3 for it, come on.
Speaker 1:I mean if it makes him happy and it gets him excited. Oh yes, oh yes, the watermelon will be good.
Speaker 2:And Miss Horky with her fig. Oh God, they wait for that. Oh, it's unreal.
Speaker 1:And if anyone wants to help, like is there, should they reach out to anybody or just show up Friday, saturday or Sunday?
Speaker 2:Just show up. If you want to help, just show up.
Speaker 1:So if you want to bring, watermelon, or if you want to bring water or cakes or whatever, rib eye or lobster.
Speaker 2:We will not refuse anything. Another great organization is the Little Boot Camp right here on Main Street, and they do their MRF during this time frame. Well, they are the only ones that do it a little different, because they come over to the cemetery and add 21 extra push-ups. A lot of people don't know that.
Speaker 1:They know that no, I knew they do it there, they did it during the weekend as their little, that's their thing.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's their promotion and every boot camp thing does it in every town. This one's a little different. Nice, because they add another 21 for those guys.
Speaker 1:That's awesome so I think we got everything uh covered that we needed to talk about. Mayor. Anything you wanted to add, oh good, with me, very good, so don't miss it this weekend. If you're passing through town, it's definitely going to catch your attention at the depot.
Speaker 2:Friday, saturday and sunday yes, and every hour on the hour you will hear amazing grace and and taps played and you will see some old man with a rifle or maybe a girl scout or a scout out there. And I know on saturday we will have the civil air patrol about half the day here. Nice, yeah, so a great event.
Speaker 1:Go by check them out this weekend at the depot, the church, point 21. Lee, thank you so much for uh joining us today on the town talk podcast. I a great event. Go by check them out this weekend at the Depot, the Church, point 21. Lee, thank you so much for joining us today on the Town Talk Podcast.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Thank you all so much, thank you.