By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Several hundred people, including armed forces veterans from recent conflicts to World War II, gathered Monday to remember the nation’s fallen servicemen and women. The ceremony followed the town’s annual Memorial Day parade.

“For those of us who stood shoulder to shoulder with those heroes, a special day isn’t needed to remind us of the sacrifices that were made, of the lives of our comrades that were cut too short,” said Tom Dubrosky of Joseph J. Clinton Post 399 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “Those memories of our fallen warriors are with us every day.”

The Rev. Heather A.M. Sinclair of the United Methodist Church of Westport and Weston gave the invocation.

“Today we remember the high cost paid by some to ensure the peace, rights and freedoms of all,” she said. “Fill us with gratitude for the lives of those who have heard our nation’s call, to stand against oppression in all its forms, and laid down their lives so that others might live their lives, more fully, more freely.”

“Thank you all for being here on this day of solemn remembrance,” First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker told the gathering.

“As we gather as a community to on Veterans Green, we honor and remember the men and women who gave their lives for our country, our democracy, our way of life,” she said.

“We are here today because of their courage and selflessness.”

Tooker read a list of the town’s veterans who died since the last Memorial Day. They are:

Nicholas Rossi

Nicholas Zeoli

Dominick DeMace

Lawrence Aasen

Donald E. Reilly

Angelo Veno

Frank A. Migliarese

Stanley Joseph Kokoszka Sr.

Frederick Hyman

Samuel J. Demeo Jr.

Garson F. Heller Jr.

Peter J. Cuseo

Robert L. Manere

Thomas McCarthy

Elvira N. Hale

Randolph “Wally” Meyer

Joseph Banyard Jr.

And, Tooker concluded, “My father and hero, Robert F. Salmon.”

A wreath was placed before the green’s Doughboy Statue as a symbol of remembrance. There also was a ceremonial three-volley rifle salute, and “Taps” was played by two Staples buglers — one at the fore and another behind the crowd, as an echo.

Dubrosky introduced the grand marshal, Jean Wells, who served in the Coast Guard in World War II. Monday was the Staples High Class of 1935 graduate’s 105th birthday, and Dubrosky led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday.”

After the ceremony, Leonard Everett Fisher, an Army first sergeant who served in North Africa during World War II, chatted with friends.

Asked about the true meaning of the day, beyond parades and picnics, Fisher — also a well-known artist — paraphrased a newspaper interview with Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was supreme allied commander in WWII, and president later.

Eisenhower, who spent decades in the military, believed war is not a way of life, Fisher said. He felt for those who lost loved ones during wartime, and considered himself one of the lucky ones to have survived.

Thane Grauel is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more about us here.