HALLOWELL — Although Memorial Day comes just once a year, families of soldiers killed in war feel the loss every day, Brenda Dearborn, department commander for the American Legion of Maine, said Monday.
Whether it’s an empty seat at the dinner table or a smaller gathering at Thanksgiving, the pain is always there.
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“They were willing to fight, and, if necessary, die for the sake of freedom,” she told a large crowd gathered at the Hallowell Cemetery. “The lives of those who have made the supreme sacrifice are glorious before us.”
Dearborn was one of several speakers who took part in a special Memorial Day remembrance where a new $30,000 granite monument to all soldiers from Hallowell — living and deceased — was unveiled for the first time. The ceremony was one of nearly a dozen that took place locally Monday, as veterans and their families paused to remember the sacrifices of those who died while serving the country.
From the American Revolution to the Global War on Terrorism, more than one million American soldiers have died, Dearborn said.
In Augusta, runners and walkers gathered at Cony High School to raise money for wounded Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, 25, who lost both arms and legs in April after he stepped on an explosive in Afghanistan. More than 370 people gave money or participated in the 5K, raising more than $13,000, said Ashley Harriman, a cousin of Mills’ wife, Kelsey Buck.
Harriman said she began planning the event shortly after Mills was injured.
“When this all happened, we were all overwhelmed with emotion,” she said. “It’s hard to help from Maine. But this makes it more meaningful than writing a check.”
While Mills, who is undergoing rehabilitation at a military facility out of state, watched much of the event through Skype, Harriman said she hopes he can attend the event in person next year.
The Hallowell dedication had all the makings of a classic small town ceremony, with the Hall-Dale High School marching band, local Boy and Girl Scouts, and the Maine Select Honor Guard, who fired seven rifles three times for a 21-gun salute. Firefighters, women in Colonial-era dress, and several flag-waiving children gathered in a corner of the cemetery for the dedication.
When the time came, a gray tarp was pulled off the monument, revealing 10,565 pounds of granite with 642 names — all Hallowell residents who have served since the Spanish American War up to and including Afghanistan. The $10,000 in seed money needed for the project came from Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Gene Lockyer, who served in World War II and upon her death donated the money to the American Legion Goodrich Caldwell Post 6 in Hallowell.
Several Caldwell family members were recognized at the event, as were Arthur and Florence Moore, the driving force behind the effort to replace a weathered and deteriorating wooden sign outside the post office with the granite monument at the cemetery.
“Today we surround this marker as a reminder of the past,” said the Rev. Gayle Holden of Cox Memorial Methodist Church. “Knowing our past is always with us, not to be forgotten, but to be used for future growth.”
Susan Cover — 621-5643
scover@mainetoday.com
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