![]() ![]() She was listening intently to the speech and couldn’t respond to him but he heard her say, “He’s not supposed to say that.” “I was very, very angry, very upset that those two people are basically putting me in that position and then taking control of my equipment,” Stokes said.Īt the time, Stokes didn’t realize the intent was to silence Kemter as he spoke about African Americans' contribution, he said.īut minutes before the incident, Stokes had approached Suchan to ask her how everything sounded. After about two minutes, Garrison turned the volume back up. To protect his equipment, Stokes pointed to the volume knob, which Garrison turned down, he said. The pair had ordered Stokes to cut the sound, but he refused, so Garrison began pulling on cords on the sound board, Stokes said. He told Kemter he had been ordered to cut the sound by event organizers, Cindy Suchan, a Hudson resident, and Jim Garrison, an adjutant of American Legion Lee-Bishop Post 464, Stokes said. But when Kemter’s speech ended, Stokes said he approached him to let him know it was no accident. ![]() When the sound was cut, Kemter thought it was a glitch in Stoke’s system and kept speaking. “I wanted to inform the people of the contribution that these African Americans had made in establishing the first Memorial Day service, and then in later years, keeping that alive in the South, until finally, the city of Charleston has put up historical markers about it,” Kemter said. Kemter had begun talking about the freed slaves in Charlotte who at the end of the Civil War had returned to a Union prisoner-of-war camp and dug up soldiers’ bodies from a mass grave to give them a proper burial, he said.Ī month later, a ceremony was held - widely considered by historians the first Memorial Day - when more than 10,000 participants walked through Charlotte, carrying flowers, and singing a song about abolitionist John Brown, who was born in Hudson. “This is why you moved in closer, so you could hear this,” Kemter joked to the crowd when the sound went out, continuing his speech. The men knew each other growing up in Hudson.īefore he began speaking, Kemter had asked the crowd to move closer because he was eager to share some obscure information he had found while researching for the speech, he said. Stokes, a Hudson resident who owns Stokes Sound & Video, and was providing sound for the ceremony. On Monday, when the sound went out, Kemter at first tapped the microphone, and then with a smile said, “A.J., mic,” to draw the attention of A.J. “My whole intention at that speech was to be educational and informative, as to the origin of Memorial Day - kind of why we have the services that we do,” he said. Barnard Kemter’s 11-minute speech, about the origins of Memorial Day.Ī Hudson native, Kemter moved away from his birthplace in 1970, but as a former Army lieutenant colonel, he has been asked to serve as keynote speaker for Memorial Days past, he said. When Stokes refused, the event organizers turned the volume off, but Kemter continued speakingĭuring the event Monday in Markillie Cemetery in Hudson, the sound was cut off about two minutes into Lt.Stokes to cut the sound during a specific part in the speech Organizers ordered sound designer A.J.Barnard Kemter, a former Hudson resident, talked about freed slaves in Charlotte reinterring soldiers’ bodies from a POW camp A veteran’s speech was silenced by event organizers when he recounted the influence freed slaves had on the first Memorial Day.Kemter delivered his speech again during the American Legion Department of Ohio's annual convention in July. The Hudson American Legion Auxiliary's charter has remained active. Suchan previously said Kemter's microphone was turned down because it "was not relevant to our program for the day," and added the "theme of the day was honoring Hudson veterans." Garrison and Suchan resigned from their positions. during his Memorial Day speech hosted by American Legion Post 464." Michael Walker, who is serving as the new adjutant for the Hudson post, was not immediately available for comment.Īmerican Legion Department of Ohio Commander Roger Friend suspended the charter June 4 after the state Legion found that Jim Garrison, then-adjutant of the Hudson American Legion post, and Cindy Suchan, then-president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, "intentionally censored. Heller said a letter will be sent to the Hudson post notifying leaders of the executive committee's decision.Ĭoast Guard Reserve Lt. ![]()
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