May 17, 2012Jamestown Remembers on Memorial Day
The Jamestown Red Raider Marching Band was one of the participants in the 2010 Memorial Day Parade (May 31, 2010) that pathed through Downtown Jamestown, Lakeview Avenue, and into the Lakeview Cemetery.
Memorialized
by Robert Rizzuto
Courtesy Jamestown Post-Journal
With gratitude for the millions who have served, thousands gathered along the parade route in Jamestown on Monday to observe Memorial Day.
Following the official procession, which included dozens of community and veterans organizations, people gathered near Soldiers' Circle in Lakeview Cemetery to pay tribute to each person that paid the ultimate price in service to the United States and its people.
"We pray for the day where war will no longer be necessary and we can simply have peace," said the Rev. Douglas Knopp, who gave the invocation and the benediction at Monday's ceremony. "But today, let us remember those who just by their being allowed us to feel faith, hope and love."
Originally designated as Decoration Day, Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. On May 30 of that year, the nation observed the holiday for the first time.
To Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the freedoms we enjoy daily, and how they came at a very high price.
"There is nothing more meaningful than honoring those who who served and paid the ultimate price," he said. "Those brave souls gave us the freedom to worship how we choose to, read the books we choose to and listen to the music that we love. In that spirit, I know I speak for all the citizens of this great city when I say that we will never forget why we are able to have these rights."
Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards echoed Teresi's sentiments, also reflecting on those who died so that everyone else could live free.
"Memorial Day has always been a day for my family and me to pause and remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for this great country's freedom and our way of life. It is important for me to remember the times I have stood silently listening to my parents, my wife's parents and my friends talk about their losses," Edwards said. "Those whom we honor today number more than a million. In faraway places with names often difficult to pronounce, these soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guard members and Marines lived constantly in the shadow of danger or death. For me, Memorial Day is a day to say a prayer for all of the men and women that paid the ultimate price and we must never forget the meaning of this day."
Several community members participated in the day's ceremonies in one way or another. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Washington Middle School student Davonah Ferguson, while several children served as the 2010 representative of a local veterans' organization.
The mood was somber as Andrew Finson, commander of the American Legion Post 149, read General John A. Logan's orders which established Memorial Day.
"What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foe," Finson said. "We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the Nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and found mourners."The ceremony's keynote speaker, Russell E. Diethrick Jr., said that as he looked around the crowd at the empty seats, he knew who everyone was present to honor.
"Each of those empty seats represents a part of what we are here today to pay tribute to," he said. "We can read the history today and know who won a war, but when each of them banded together and got off of ships and jumped off of perfectly good airplanes, they marched into the unknown. They didn't know what was going to happen - they made it happen. The best thing we can do to honor them is to live a life that would make them proud."
For more pictures of the 2010 Memorial Day Parade visit the photo album.