Memorial Day Images From Brookline And Dormont

Hundreds of people turned out under bright skies to watch the marching bands, the firefighters, the police, local officials, clubs and veterans as they paraded from the cannon memorial in Brookline to the Mount Lebanon Cemetery.

As the end of the parade passed by, people packed up and headed off to continue enjoying the day.

Only a couple dozen filed into the mausoleum afterward to pay tribute to the Marine the parade was dedicated to: Sgt. Ryan Lane. If anyone had wanted a seat, there was room.

T.J. Conroy, first vice president of the South Hill Memorial Day Association, recounted Lane's life and service.

Son to Kathy Hanley and Harold Lane. Brother to three. Carrick High School graduate.

Lane enlisted on July 22, 2002, and spent seven months in Afghanistan. He was made corporal. He reenlisted, training recruits in marksmanship.

He married his wife Valerie in 2004.

He reenlisted a second time and again was deployed to Afghanistan, where he died July 23, 2009—seven years and a day after first enlisting—of wounds received supporting combat operations in Helmand Province.

Dormont Deacon Kevin Burke and Pastor Dan Merry, of the Southminster Presbyterian Church in Mount Lebanon, offered prayers of safety and words of thanks for servicemen and women.

Jim Hill, veterans and military affairs liaison for U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, told the audience that the "celebration of sacrifice and freedom" should not be limited to one day.

Hill carries in his wallet a slip of paper with the names of seven friends and fellow servicemen who died during combat, from Vietnam up to Iraq.

"You have to remember. You have to remember names," Hill said. "They gave their life. They gave their life for all of us."

The parade featured the American Legion and , police from Dormont, Pittsburgh and Mount Lebanon, , area scouts, Dormont Mayor Tom Lloyd and council, the Salvation Army, the Dormont Historical Society, the Brookline American Legion, Brookline Chamber of Commerce, various Keystone Oaks School District students, Medical Rescue Team South Authority and others.