‘Say Their Names’ - Citizens Mark Memorial Day By Remembering Citizen-soldiers

CHATHAM – “Please, no wishes of Happy Memorial Day,” Retired U.S. Army Specialist Ted Miller, a Vietnam veteran, told Monday’s assembly in Chatham.

“I am encouraging all of us to celebrate a meaningful Memorial Day,” he said.

Miller, the keynote speaker at this year’s observance, urged attendees to remember fallen veterans not as a group of citizens but as individuals who answered their nation’s call in time of need. He encouraged people to read their names from town war memorials and say them aloud, taking time to think of them as individual community members.

“It’s been over 50 years since I returned from Vietnam, and those of us still alive are grateful to be home and equally humbled to be able to pay tribute to those who did not come home,” Miller said. “You have honored our fallen simply by your presence here today and remembering the names of the veterans of your own families and friends. This has great meaning for those of us who served and returned, knowing that you also took time today to remember.”

Chatham’s Memorial Day observance was well attended, with dozens of people gathered under the trees in front of the community center. They were led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Boy Scout Ben Mills, and led in song by Laura Barabe; Sarah Marchio provided bagpipe music, and there were salutes from the crew of Coast Guard Station Chatham, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the Chatham police, fire and harbormaster departments. Scott Hamilton played the part of Abraham Lincoln, reading the Gettysburg Address.

Organizer Rob Franz, retired U.S. Army chief warrant officer, encouraged attendees to take time during the day to honor fallen veterans.

“A poll revealed that roughly only a quarter of all Americans know the meaning of Memorial Day,” he said. “Most view it as a day off rather than a day to connect with our nation’s history.”