Veterans’ groups in Hayden, Steamboat Springs, Oak Creek and Yampa are preparing this week for Monday, a day set aside to remember service members that have fallen while serving their country.

“It has been set forth to honor those that served and paid the ultimate price,” said South Routt veteran Gary Burkholder, who served in the Army from 1966-68.

Monday’s memorial services will start at 11 a.m. at the Steamboat Springs Cemetery; 11 a.m. at the Yampa Cemetery; 1 p.m. at Oak Creek Cemetery; and at 6 p.m. at the Hayden Cemetery followed by a community dinner that will be hosted at the American Legion, at 220 South Third St.

Memorial Day was introduced in the U.S. in 1868 as ‘Decoration Day,’ when the commander in chief of the Grand Army ordered that on May 30 each year, graves of those who died in defense of their country would be decorated with flowers.

The event grew into a national holiday, and in 1971 President Richard Nixon officially established Memorial Day as a federal holiday and moved to the recognition to the last Monday in May.

The Veterans Day ceremony in Steamboat Springs will take place at 11 a.m. at 1500 Cemetery Dr.

Because the road leading to the cemetery is narrow and parking is limited at the site, Steamboat Springs Transit is providing shuttles to the event. Starting at 9:30 a.m., those heading to the event can begin boarding shuttles at Stockbridge Transit Center. The last shuttle before the ceremony will leave at 10:30 a.m.

Following the event, participants will be able to take the shuttles back to their cars at Stockbridge Transit Center.

Over the decades service members from Routt County have been called to action, with 64 of them losing their lives in times of conflict.

Jim Stanko, adjutant for Leo HIll American Legion Post #44, said Monday’s Memorial Day Service will include the traditional lowering of the flag and a placing of a wreath on the veteran monument. The service will end with a 21-gun salute and taps for the 64 service men who lost their lives in conflicts, as well as honoring those who served and have since passed away outside of conflicts. The post will also place flags on the graves of fallen service personnel this Thursday.

This year, organizers will offer special recognition for nine Routt County service personnel who lost their lives in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“We are going to keep with what we’ve been doing in the past, which is honoring a person from Routt County — not just Steamboat — that was killed in action or died during one of the conflicts from World War I all the way up to the present,” Stanko said.

Private First Class John Vialpondo was born and raised in Steamboat Springs and was a member of the class of 1968 when he joined the army. After basic training he was sent to Vietnam to serve with an infantry division. He was killed Dec. 7, 1968, while on a search and destroy mission and was buried in Steamboat Springs with full-military honors.

David Fogg was a lance corporal with a Marine division when he was hit with sniper fire on July 4, 1969. He died from those wounds the next day, and was also buried in the Steamboat Springs Cemetery on July 18 with full-military honors.

Others being honored include World War I veteran George Lawson, a private who was killed Nov. 4, 1918 while serving with the 345 ^th Infantry’s 89 ^th division as part of the Argonne offense.

Lawson was born in 1893 and moved with his family in McGregor, a small coal mining town west of Steamboat Springs.

The ceremony will also honor Staff Sgt. Kenneth Shibata who was killed during World War II while serving with the U.S. Army’s 442 ^nd Regimental Combat Team — a highly decorated unit during World War II composed of American soldiers of Japanese descent.

Shibata was severely wounded in an artillery explosion on July 16, 1944 in Italy and died from his wounds. He earned two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge and several campaign medals. In 2010, he also received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Shibata grew up in the coal mining camp of Haybro and attended school in Oak Creek, graduating in 1938.

The ceremony will also honor Private First-Class Leonard “Buddy” Officer who was sent to Korea in August 1951 and died Oct. 10, 1951. His body was returned to Steamboat Springs where he was buried with full-military honors. Before his death he was awarded two Purple Hearts and the Infantrymen Badge. His unit was awarded a Presidential Citation.

Army Staff Sgt. Mark Lawton was killed Aug, 29, 2003 serving with 244th Engineer Battalion when his convoy was attacked north of Suaydat, Iraq.

Lawton was raised and attended school in Elkhart County, Indiana until age 16, when he moved to Craig. He attended Moffat County High School, where he was an outstanding athlete setting track and field records. He graduated with the Class of 1982 before going on to join the Army, and later, the Marine Corps, and served for more than a decade on active duty with the Corps, which included combat in Desert Storm.

The Bird-Howe Post 189 will host Memorial Day events Monday in Yampa and Oak Creek.

“Our American Legion will do a ceremony at the Yampa cemetery at 11 o’clock, and then we’ll move on to Oak Creek and do that one at 1 o’clock at the Yampa Cemetery,” said Burkholder, adjutant for Bird-Howe Post 189 . “The population of Yampa had a record for the percentage of able-bodied men who served in World War I.”

The ceremony will include 21-gun salute, readings and prayers. Approximately 145 veterans will be honored.

Monday’s main events will begin at 6 p.m. in Hayden as the community recognizes Memorial Day and invites the community to come together for a potluck dinner at the Legion Hall following the event.

“The ceremony will be at the cemetery and the meal will be at the American Legion hut in Hayden,” said Steve Dunn, adjutant for the Hayden American Legion Post 89.

He added that the American Legion will placing flags on the graves of soldiers on Thursday evening prior to Monday’s events.

“We have never missed a Memorial Day,” Stanko said. “Now, during World War II the ceremony was kind of brief, but they still went up and decorated graves … Then we started rejuvenating about 1984 and 1985, and it started taking off. Then in (the mid-1990s) is when we then really got people starting to come … getting 150-200 people to come to the service — and it’s been that way ever since.”