BANGOR, Maine — Judi Funaiole of Hudson and Debbie Croft of Kenduskeag on Monday brought their grandchildren to downtown Bangor for the Memorial Day parade.
“We came to say ‘thank you’ to everybody that served and to remember those who died,” Funaiole said. “We bought them some flags to wave.”
Mackayla Young, 10, of Hudson, and Kaleb Griffith, 11, of Kenduskeag said they had learned about caring for the flag in school.
“Don’t ever let it touch the ground,” the boy said.
“It has 13 stripes and 50 stars for the 13 colonies and all 50 states,” the girl said.
Generations of other families lined the sidewalks along Main Street as school bands, junior ROTC groups, Boy Scouts, Brownies, Troop Greeters, and veterans from four wars marched by. Those who served during World War II, the Korean War, the war in Vietnam and the global war on terror were greeted with applause and shouts of “thank you.”
Ed Bonenfant of Winterport marched with the Korean War veterans.
“A lot of us couldn’t make it, so I marched for them,” Bonenfont, who served in the U.S. Navy Medical Corp., said at the end of the parade route. “I’ve been in the parade for many years. My grandkids keep after me about it.”
The parade is a tradition for many. Croft said she and her family have been coming to Bangor for the annual parade for numerous years.
“When my own kids were little, maybe just 4 or 5, we were watching the parade and Sen. George Mitchell walked over and shook their hands,” she said.
No members of the Congressional delegations led the parade Monday, but members of Bangor’s city council were on hand.
Bangor Mayor Cary Weston spoke at a short ceremony following the parade at the USS Maine memorial in Davenport Park. He urged people to remember not just those who have fallen in battle.
“To the families of those who fell in battle, know that they did not die in vain,” he said. “It is the courage, the bravery and selflessness of your loved ones that keeps the promise of freedom strong today. To the families of those who contributed away from the battlefield and the smoky skies, know their contributions and their commitments to the promise are honored.”
Both Weston’s grandfathers served in the armed forces, one as a sailor, the other as an airplane mechanic at the former Dow Air Force base, now Bangor International Airport.
“Their contributions, as with so many of our veterans, were not on the battlefield, but in the background,” Weston said. “Their work was done in the steam of the engine room and noise of the airplane hangars. While their tales were not of fire and flame, they were of pride, friendship, commitment and teamwork.”
Memorial Day became a national celebration in 1868, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. That year, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued an order designating May 30 “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”
Originally called Decoration Day, the holiday has been observed on the last Monday in May since 1971.
Great to see.. video had a Blair Witch Project unsteadiness to it that made by head spin… Can you purchase a Stedi Cam, BDN????
Memorial day is not about veterans that are living. Seems a lot of people have forgotten that small fact.
I agree. Veterans’ Day is for the living, Memorial Day for the dead. Thank you WW2 men and women who have passed on. Because of you, I’m not speaking German or Japanese today.
But that said, I think WW2 was the last war America should have fought. The others have been fought for the military-industrial-conressional complex. And bring back the draft so that politicians will not be so eager to send young men and women to war. OR make a law that says every politician must send someone in their own family – or go themselves.
remember that during the Vietnam War there was a draft and all though not a WW many who died did not want to go. Instead of burning the flag or running of to Canada these men fought as proudly as a WW2 vet and sadly died as did those in WW1 and 2.
Yes, there was a draft for an unnecessary war and because of that draft the people took to the streets (eventually!) and demanded an end to the war. Everybody was touched in some way by the Vietnam war. Not now. Now our volunteer army is 1% of us and except on days such as this – parades and all – people don’t pay much attention. The fact that 18 suicides a day occur in the active army just doesn’t seem to register with anyone. The fact that our VA hospitals are overwhelmed and will be dealing with long-term brain injuries for decades doesn’t seem to cause much problem to the public. The fact that a lot of active duty combat soldiers qualify for food stamps (they must be slackers!) is a disgrace.
So I think a draft is necessary. A draft might stop the next war the neo-cons want – and Mr. Romney is surrounding himself with these people as his ‘advisors’. The same ones that got us into Iraq are the ones who has Romney’s ear. And Obama is no peacenik, he’s proven that! The army is stretched out thin. All patriotic Americans should love a draft.
The men who served in Vietnam were used badly. I respect those that went and served their country. But it was not an honorable war and should never have been fought. Maybe a draft will help keep America’s wars few and far between. Maybe the people will say NO once again, before the next one starts. Maybe we will turn off the tvs and hit the streets for real and this time will be heard by our ‘brave’, patriotic politicians who keep sending other people’s children off to war. I can only hope.
A lot of us haven’t forgotten what Memorial Day
stands for and the difference between the 2 days.
I still have no problem with honoring our dead
and paying respect to the living and those serving
on both days.
I disagree! We dilute the meaning if we turn it into Veteran’s day. It is annoying to see WABI thanking Vets today. Thank Vets everyday but today is a single day set aside who were wounded or killed while serving our country.
“Many people confuse the holidays of Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring military personnel
who died in the service of the country, particularly those who died in
battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle.
While those who died are also remembered, Veterans Day is the day set
aside to thank and honor all those who served in the military — in
wartime or peacetime. ”
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
I don’t mind if you disagree and I do not disagree
with what you showed as what each day is for. I think
I basically said many do understand that. Although
some feel it is not “proper” or necessary to say thank
you for serving to veterans on Memorial Day, I just don’t
feel it disrespectful, annoying or that it demeans either day to remember
Vets, fallen and living on either day. To each his own.
I just feel making it another Veteran’s Day dilutes the true meaning of the day. It is NOT meant to be a day of celebration.. or even a day of ‘thanks’.. It is supposed to be a solemn day of remembrance and honor.
“Least we forget..”
Dear BDN if you are going to go into video news production please hire a professional whith the proper equipment to do it. Hats off to the men who died in the wars they fought.