Ashland Honors Fallen Heroes During 2026 Memorial Day Parade and Cemetery Service
ASHLAND — Ashland County paused Monday morning to remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to the United States during the 2026 Memorial Day Parade and service at Ashland Cemetery.
The annual ceremony was led by Master of Ceremonies E. Wayne Risner, who welcomed the crowd following the parade and reminded those gathered of the purpose behind Memorial Day.
“It’s very important that we come out and remember our heroes that we’ve lost all the way back to when we began as a country,” Risner said during the service.
Risner said the parade included about 30 entries this year and thanked those who took the time to participate. He also recognized the local Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and veterans organizations who placed American flags on veterans’ graves throughout the cemetery ahead of the ceremony.
This year’s parade marshal was Joe Denbow, a 102-year-old World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946.
Denbow joined the reserves while attending college in Ashland and trained as a radio operator. During World War II, he was deployed to the Pacific, where he experienced intense combat during the Leyte invasion. As part of the 583rd Signal Air Warning Battalion, Denbow helped coordinate radar intelligence used to warn of enemy aircraft while enduring bombings, harsh conditions and close calls with death.
He later participated in the Luzon campaign before severe illness temporarily sidelined him. After Japan’s surrender, Denbow returned home, completed his education and spent more than three decades working in education.
Risner described Denbow as a man many in Ashland know not only for his military service, but also for the years he spent serving the community after returning home.
The ceremony included an invocation by Don Earlenbaugh, the raising of the flag, the National Anthem performed by Madelyn Prise, recognition of local veterans organization commanders, the placement of bouquets at the Veterans Memorial site, a Memorial Day address, benediction, Taps and Battery D.
Risner also recognized Roger Shopell for raising the flag and thanked the Ashland High School Band, under the direction of Marty Carell, for taking part in both the parade and cemetery service.
Commanders from several Ashland veterans organizations were introduced, including representatives from VFW Post 1067, the VFW Auxiliary, AMVETS Post 96, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 81 and Harry Higgins American Legion Post 88.
American Legion Post 88 Commander David Abbruzzese delivered the Memorial Day address, calling the day “a sacred reminder of the courage, selflessness, and devotion of those who laid down their lives so that we might live in freedom.”
“Freedom has never been free,” Abbruzzese said. “Every liberty we enjoy and every opportunity we pursue has been safeguarded by men and women who were willing to sacrifice everything for a cause greater than themselves.”
Abbruzzese reminded those in attendance that the individuals honored on Memorial Day were ordinary Americans with families, dreams and futures who did something extraordinary when their country called.
“They left their families. They left their homes. They left behind people who loved them,” he said. “Because of their courage and sacrifice, we are able to enjoy not only the freedoms of today, but the promise of tomorrow.”
During his address, Abbruzzese paid special tribute to 1st Lt. Michael L. Runyan, an Ashland High School graduate who was killed in combat on July 21, 2010, while serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom in Balad, Iraq.
Runyan was assigned to the 52nd Infantry, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, and died from injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his Stryker.
A 2004 graduate of Ashland High School, Runyan was active in athletics, including swimming, tennis and golf. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Xavier University in 2008 and was involved in ROTC.
Abbruzzese read an excerpt from a speech Runyan gave before graduating from Ashland High School, in which Runyan reflected on the meaning of Memorial Day and the cost of freedom.
“Freedom doesn’t come standard in any country; sacrifices must be made, because freedom doesn’t come free,” Runyan said in the excerpt.
Abbruzzese said the best way to honor the fallen is to live in a way that is worthy of their sacrifice by strengthening communities, supporting veterans and military families, and teaching future generations the true meaning of Memorial Day.
“We must tell their stories,” he said. “We must speak their names.”
As part of the ceremony, Abbruzzese read the names of Ashland’s fallen warriors honored at the cemetery memorial:
Spc. Clarence Cash
Sgt. Major Joseph Ellis
Lt. Jason Jakubowski
Sgt. Jonathan Kingman
Lcpl. Christopher Lyons
Spc. Damon Winkleman
Staff Sgt. Porter Yeater
Lt. Michael Runyan
The service closed with gratitude for veterans, Gold Star families, active-duty service members and the Ashland community.
“God bless our armed forces proudly serving everywhere,” Risner said. “God bless the United States of America. God bless Ashland County.”
