Remembering on Memorial Day at Malvern

By Thomas Clapper

CCM Reporter

The Village of Malvern made three different stops to honor the fallen at the annual Memorial Day event featuring guest speaker United States Navy and Gulf War Era veteran Holly Lewis. 

After a breakfast served by American Legion Post 375, the parade started at the Malvern Historical Society following a brief ceremony at the Veterans Wall. The parade marched to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Cemetery for a brief ceremony, and finally continued on to Bethlehem Cemetery for the service featuring Lewis. 

TAPS was played and a three volley salute was fired to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

American Legion Post #375 First Vice Commander Bill Logozzo led the Pledge of Allegiance and introduced Lewis.

In the Navy, Lewis was responsible for repairing the computer systems that ran the undersea surveillance system. She has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and an MBA.  She retired from a 20+ year career at McKesson where she was a key contributor to the creation and launch of EnterpriseRx, a pharmacy management software, used in over 4,500 pharmacies in the U.S.  

“Each story is unique and represents heartbreak for family and friends,” said Lewis speaking of the memories of the fallen soldiers honored on Memorial Day. “The price they paid is why we can celebrate today.”

She spoke about the history of Memorial Day and how it began. She remembered Lou Conter, the final survivor of the USS Arizona attack in World War II. Conter passed away April 1 at age 102 but left behind a quote of how he felt about his fallen comrades. Lewis shared the quote by Conter.

“They call a lot of us heroes, and I’ve always said we are not the heroes,” Conter said. “Heroes are the ones right there that day that lost their lives. They gave everything up. We got back to the States. We got married. We had kids and grandkids. We are still here. They were lost forever right then and there.”