Brewster Memorial Day: A Reminder Of Loss And Sacrifice

BREWSTER – While people broiled their hot dogs and steaks on the grill or spent time on the beach or shopping, speakers at Brewster’s Memorial Day ceremonies at the council on aging wanted them to remember the reason for the holiday weekend.

“The reason for this long holiday weekend is a somber one,” Mary Chaffee, vice chair of the select board and a 27-year veteran Navy nurse. “This is a time we honor and remember brave Americans who gave their lives. By gathering here today we make sure their sacrifice on our behalf is not forgotten.”

The large crowd overflowed the parking lot of the COA forcing people to park on the grass. The maple and beech trees had leafed out to provide shade and the weather was mild.

“It’s a day of mourning. A day to remind ourselves of lives lost,” Reverend Kaaren Anderson said. “It’s a cost paid out in the lives of families of service members. I hold out this as a type of prayer to say each Memorial Day — never again.”

Vietnam veteran Specialist Jim Bergeron of Brewster recalled fellow soldiers who didn't return as he had.

“What is this really about?” he asked. “We see it as the beginning of summer, as the beginning of a vacation, as a period of recreation, farming, fishing, swimming, sailing. But let's not lose focus. This began in 1864 in many small towns across the country when people got together for what was called Decoration Day to recognize the sacrifice of many friends who died [in World War I], over 600,000. We should never forget the service of these people who gave their lives for our country. Remember the 58,000 lost in Vietnam. Keep Memorial Day as more than just a party time.”

The final speaker was retired Lt. Col. Ralph Negron of the United States Marine Corps. He recalled when he was departing for Vietnam his mother told him, “first your father. Then you. When is this ever going to end?”

He too thought of his fellow soldiers who never returned and wondered if one of them might have been president of the United States, or the CEO of a big corporation, or discovered a cure for cancer.

“We’ll never know,” he said. “Some were not even able to buy a beer legally because the drinking age was 21 then.”

He put a face on one man, a lance corporal he knew named Kevin, who died just days after his 19th birthday. Kevin’s mother was buried with his picture in her arms.

“That hit me like a bolt of lightning,” Negron recalled. “It was a stark reminder of the incalculable grief war causes. Kevin was one of 58,000. Imagine the grief of 58,000 families over losing a loved one."