Wednesday, June 1, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
photo by clary Grant
Captain Craig Eisenbeis, U.S. Coast Guard, retired, was keynote speaker
at Depoe Bay’s Memorial Day Fleet of Flowers.
Sisters man speaks
at Fleet of Flowers
Sisters area resident,
Captain Craig Eisenbeis,
U.S. Coast Guard, retired,
was tapped to be keynote
speaker at Depoe Bay’s 71st
annual Memorial Day Fleet
of Flowers.
The annual Fleet of
Flowers features dozens of
boats decked out with thou-
sands of flowers and wreaths
in parade-style fashion. After
the ceremonial activities and
speech, the boats paraded
out through Depoe Bay’s
entrance channel and under
the Highway 101 bridge, also
decorated for the occasion
and lined with thousands of
observers. Officials estimated
attendance at about 3,500.
Like all Memorial Day
observances, the Fleet of
Flowers honors fallen service
members and is a solemn
event. Depoe Bay takes the
spirit of remembrance even
further by honoring all those
lost at sea and who offer up
their lives in the service of
others.
The Fleet of Flowers
was first observed in 1945
to honor the memory of two
Depoe Bay fishermen — Roy
Bower and Jack Chambers
— who lost their lives in a
storm at sea, while trying to
save others. A monument was
erected in their memory on
the downtown sea wall, near
Depoe Bay’s Spouting Horn,
a natural phenomenon that
spouts like a geyser when
surf and tide conditions are
right.
In his address, titled
“Being an Everyday Hero,”
Captain Eisenbeis touted the
virtues of selflessness and
sacrifice, and remembered
individuals lost in the past
year. He also highlighted
the service of Coast Guard
members, both past and pres-
ent, including his own father,
Sidney Eisenbeis, who vol-
unteered his service and
his own boat at the onset of
World War II to assume Coast
Guard patrols up and down
the Columbia River to guard
against against foreign incur-
sions and saboteurs.
Captain Eisenbeis con-
cluded his message by
exhorting the crowd to make
a difference in the world
themselves by their every-
day actions toward others.
“So, if we are to truly honor
the lives and past sacrifices
of those who have passed on
before us,” he said, “there are
things that each of us can do
to be heroes in today’s world.
They need not be big things,
and they need not be actions
of great sacrifice; but they
should — and must — be
done. Together...we can all
make a difference.”
The ceremony included
flag-bearing veterans from
each military service, a
performance by the Coast
Guard honor guard, and mul-
tiple singers and musicians.
Fallen service personnel
were honored, with a special
remembrance to the recently
deceased Coast Guard Master
Chief David Duren. After
the ceremony, to the strains
of bagpipe music, Captain
Eisenbeis and other dignitar-
ies boarded a Coast Guard
motor lifeboat to lead the
procession of flowered boats
out to sea for the ceremonial
laying of memorial wreathes.
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