Bipartisan Memorial Day Tributes Interrupted by Weather, Anti-War Protesters

by Matt Johnson

(Picture credits Matt Johnson)

OMAHA — For the past several years, Bill and Evonne Williams, through their nonprofit group Patriotic Productions, have held events honoring fallen service members. These include honor flights and a traveling display featuring profiles of American veterans who died in the service of their country since September 11, 2001.

This year, Patriotic Productions organized events over three separate days. Two of them—Friday, May 22, and Sunday, May 24—were intended to feature the world’s largest American flag (the “Super Flag”) at both Memorial Park in Omaha and the Sandhills Event Center in Lincoln. Rain on one day and high winds on the other forced the cancellation of the unfurlings.

“Scott Voorhees gave me this great line,” Bill Williams said Monday. “Mother Nature is undefeated.”

Many of the festivities continued despite the weather. Friday’s rain left some guests drenched, but once it passed, a giant rainbow stretched across Memorial Park.

“Oh, it was beautiful, wasn’t it?” Williams said. “We were disappointed, as most people are, that we don’t have the world’s largest American flag. But look at the turnout.”

Volunteers in golf carts shuttled guests from parking areas and nearby neighborhood streets. One volunteer was KFAB legend Gary Sadlemyer, who told The Plains Sentinel how he got involved.

“Bill Williams had been a friend for years, and they needed volunteers,” Sadlemyer said. “He asked me and I said, ‘Sure, all right.’”

Friday evening featured a drone show over the park along with musical performances by the quartet Grateful Heart, Bellevue guitarist Steve Spurgeon, and renowned Irish tenor Ronan Tynan, who headlined the event.

“It’s an unbelievable country and many of your ancestors came here and made a wonderful life,” Tynan said. “I’ve done the same and I can only thank the generosity of the American people and this great nation. It’s my honor to sing for you.”

The event also featured bipartisan local representation, including Republican Governor Jim Pillen, Senator Pete Ricketts, and Democratic Omaha Mayor John Ewing.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Pillen said.

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn also attended, working the crowd with a campaign staffer.

On Memorial Day Monday, Patriotic Productions hosted a large pancake breakfast at Memorial Park, with 3,000 pancakes donated by Hy-Vee. Ricketts helped serve guests. Historic military vehicles were on display, along with a field of flags commemorating Americans who have died in wars since the nation’s founding.

At 9:45 a.m., three skydivers descended onto the south lawn via parachute. At 10:00 a.m., a procession of veterans wearing period uniforms marched across the lawn to the sound of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” officially starting the ceremony. Several of these reenactors then took the stage, sharing the stories of the fallen soldiers they portrayed. Their terms of service spanned from the Revolutionary War through the Iraq War. The cousin of one soldier killed in Iraq spoke last, delivering a moving personal story about his family member.

While the commemoration continued, a small group of anti-war protesters, with a bullhorn, gathered on the Dodge Street overpass above the park to disrupt the service. One protester wore a T-shirt featuring a blue dot and blue wave design.

Several attendees from the memorial service went up to the bridge to confront them. Among them was Brinker Harding, candidate for Congress in District 2.

“I understand people have a right—a First Amendment right—but I would hope that they’d have a little respect for the program that’s going on,” Harding said afterward. “Someone’s telling their family story about someone who served.”

Arguments continued on the bridge.

“Somebody is speaking—and they’re honoring the fallen—and you’re interrupting,” one woman told a protester.

“I don’t want them to fall at all!” the protester replied.

The group was small—around half a dozen people total. One attendee eventually took the bullhorn from a woman using it and set it aside.

Patriotic Productions held a similar event in 2025 that was also met by protesters, though those demonstrators only held signs and did not use bullhorns.

While the protesters drew attention from some in the crowd and passing cars on Dodge Street, the main festivities continued largely uninterrupted. The disruption remained mostly background noise.

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.