Organizers of a Memorial Day ceremony turned off a speaker’s microphone when the former U.S. Army officer began talking about how freed Black slaves had honored fallen soldiers soon after
By Bill Galluccio
Jun 3, 2021
Organizers of a Memorial Day event in Ohio are facing criticism after they cut the microphone of a veteran in the middle of his speech. Army Lt. Col.
Barnard Kemter was speaking at a ceremony at the Markillie Cemetery in Hudson, Ohio, which was put together by the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary.
About halfway through his speech, Kemter brought up the history that freed slaves had in celebrating Memorial Day for the first time. He explained that historians believe that a group of freed slaves organized the ceremony on May 1, 1865, at the remains of a Confederate prison camp.