This year’s Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse was Gov. Mike DeWine’s first as Governor.
Jim Groves, whose son, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer James Groves III, of Kettering, was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2013 was on hand for the event.
So were state dignitaries, including Ohio Department of Veterans Services Director Deborah Ashenhurst, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and the Olentangy High School Choir.
DeWine told the group gathered for the annual ceremony that Ohioans who have lost their lives serving in the military represent the very fabric of the state.
“All of them, by the way they lived, changed lives, changed lives in countless ways, each leaving an enormous impact on their families, their friends and all of those who they came in contact with. Their absence leaves a gaping hole in the lives of those they left behind and while that makes it very, very hard, we also know that the world is a better place because these brave men and women were a part of it.”
