The General George H. Thomas, Camp No. 19, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) will host the 156th Memorial Day service at Lancaster Cemetery, 205 E. Lemon St., Lancaster, on Thursday, May 30, at 6 p.m. The service will be conducted at the Grand Army of the Republic's soldiers' burial plot, the final resting place for 206 men who served in the military forces of the United States during the Civil War.

Joel Mutschler from the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will serve as the keynote speaker. Following the commemoration, a memorial service for Lancaster's Civil War notables Maj. Gen. John F. and Rear Adm. William Reynolds will be held at the Reynolds family plot.

The SUVCW is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of those who fought and worked to save the Union. Organized in 1881 and chartered by Congress in 1954, the SUVCW is the legal successor to the Grand Army of the Republic. The General George H. Thomas, Camp No. 19, was chartered on Feb. 13, 1889, and there has been an active camp in Lancaster ever since.