York Town News
A day to remember
By Melissa Wood
In memory of Kyle Little, who loved all things baseball, York High School student Kathleen Brown, pictured here, collected 33 baseballs and 12 gloves from the schools and the parade, which she was scheduled to donate to the York Recreation Department and Little League on Tuesday, May 29.
Photo by Melissa Wood
Junior Girl Scouts, from left, Rachel Robidoux, Alexandra Young and Emily Mahoney of Geraldine Navarette-Young’s Junior Girl Scout Troop 408 prepare to march in honor and in memory of their town’s veterans on Memorial Day, May 28.
Photo by Juanita Reed
YORK and OGUNQUIT - "We came here to remember," said Maj. Rodney Freeman to other veterans, their families and local people who gathered for a Memorial Day service at First Parish Cemetery after the Memorial Day parade marched through York Village on Monday morning.
Remember those who were "willing to fight if necessary - willing to die if necessary - to maintain our freedoms," said Freeman, who served 14 months in Iraq with the New Hampshire Army National Guard from October 2003 to November 2004.
Remember those who are risking their lives this very moment in Iraq, he said. Remember those who were willing to lose everything, and did.
"Men and women have died so that we can continue to cherish the things they love, God, country and family," said Freeman.
Local veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Iraq assembled at St. Christopher's Church for a parade that began at 9 a.m. They were joined by the American Legion Color Guard, York High School band, and numerous Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, to name a few.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion placed memorial wreaths at the six war monuments along the route. At the seventh monument, the final stop before reaching the cemetery, a delegation of Vietnam veterans laid down a wreath at the monument for their fallen comrades.
In Ogunquit, a joint Memorial Day parade was planned with Wells, followed by a remembrance ceremony and decoration of the Fireman's Memorial at the Ogunquit River Bridge, and music at Veterans Park.
Throughout Memorial Day weekend, Ogunquit also displayed panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Dunaway Center. Those panels have the names of those who have died from the disease.
The York parade lost one of its Gold Star Mothers this year, as Elizabeth Parsons, whose son Ronald was killed in action in Vietnam, passed away on May 3. York's remaining Gold Star Mother Mariann Dorr, whose son Gerry Dorr was killed in Vietnam, was not in the parade.
After the ceremony, York veteran Brian Sebastyanski gave credit to his mother and sister, Helen and Donna Sebastyanski, also of York, for making his time in Iraq more bearable by sending letters, phone cards and care packages, either through the mail or VFW. Sebastyanski, who served in Iraq with the Navy Reserve from the beginning of April to mid-November, 2005, doing construction to support the Army, said many people do not realize he has been to Iraq and back.
"This is the first recognition I've had since I've been home," he said.
Veteran Fred St. Amant of Wells, who served in Dinang in Vietnam, said he was impressed by the parade's turnout.
"I'm really glad to see all the people," he said. "It's a big difference from coming back from Vietnam and being spit on."
