Staff writer
About 40 people traveled down the dusty roads to Pilsen to attend Memorial Day services at Pilsen Cemetery.
The more than 70 Pilsen residents who had served and were laid to rest in the cemetery were named for their contributions. Two residents were remembered for never coming home, Father Emil Kapaun and Dean Klenda.
Guests were led in military honors by members of American Legion Gilbert-Poppe Post No. 347 of Lincolnville, who also completed a six-gun, three-shot rifle salute after the singing of Taps by Mary Griffith and trumpet played by Tabitha Oborny.
Upon the conclusion of the ceremony, the majority of the guests traveled to the Kapaun Museum to remember one of their own who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Museum volunteer Carol Sklenar said several people from out of town were waiting at the museum before the Memorial Service even started at 9:30 a.m.
The day before a reporter from the New York Times visited the museum, St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church, and cemetery accompanied by Father John Hotze of the Diocese of Wichita.
The reporter is writing an article about how Father Kapaun receiving the Medal of Honor has affected Pilsen, Sklenar said.