Letter to the editor: Middlebury Legion thanks Memorial Day observers

The Middlebury American Legion Post 27 family and the Town of Middlebury would like to thank all who participated in our Middlebury Memorial Day Parade. After a two-year hiatus it was great to be back. 

“At first I said no, I’m not a public figure,” Bub Crosby told the Independent. “I’ve always been kind of under the wire; I don’t like the publicity, I just like doing good.”

After two years without public Memorial Day festivities one might think that organizers of such events would be a little rusty. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, as a full slate of parades and other commemorations are set for this coming weekend.

It’s a bittersweet sight this time of year: Somber, silent cemeteries swathed in a radiant blanket of red, white and blue, denoting those who served — and in some cases, made the ultimate sacrifice — as part of the United States military.

Josiah Clark was only 18 years old when he fought at a pivotal battle outside Boston in the early years of the American Revolutionary War. His headstone proudly declares, “He fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill and died 60 years from that day.”

Featured on the Wall of Faces are six members of the U.S. armed forces who hailed from Addison County, Vt., and who died in service to their country.

When Memorial Day rolls around it’s easy to talk about why we honor those who have sacrificed their lives for their country. What’s less easy to talk about is how hard it can be to get Americans to stop and actually take the time and effort to remember.

Fort Ticonderoga will pay tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in service to their country during the American Revolution.

The Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery (VVMC) in Randolph Center performs more burials a year than any other cemetery in the state. 

As Memorial Day approaches it is a time to reflect upon what we are called to remember.

There is no parade in Middlebury this Memorial Day, but Middlebury American Legion Post 27 will conduct a short Memorial Day Ceremony at their post home at 1 Boardman St. this coming Monday, May 31, at 11:30 a.m.Veterans, friends and all others are invite … (read more)

ADDISON COUNTY — While Memorial Day parades are being cancelled out of an abundance of precaution, the county’s three American Legion posts are steadily regrouping and reopening as state and federal authorities continue to lift COVID-related restrictions. … (read more)

Unlike in the years before 2020, Bristol American Legion Post 19 will not stage a parade this Memorial Day.Post 19 will host a Memorial Day Ceremony at the bandstand on the park on Monday, May 31, at 1 p.m. There will be patriotic music, a speaker and pla … (read more)

VERMONT — When the pandemic struck in early 2020, military cemeteries and funeral honor guards had to limit or suspend their services, just the same as in the civilian world, but both federal and state Offices of Veterans Affairs have tried to ensure the … (read more)

ADDISON COUNTY — Memorial Day Weekend is considered by many Americans as the unofficial kickoff to summer; and summer for many begins with a loud and colorful parade. The annual Memorial Day parade in Vergennes is considered the biggest parade in Vermont, … (read more)