Honoring the fallen in Dutchess County
POUGHKEEPSIE – Gold Star Families, veterans including Poughkeepsie’s 101-year-old WW II veteran Stuart Vidal, dignitaries and community members gathered at the Dutchess County War Memorial on Monday to honor and remember fallen servicemen and women from the county and the nation.
The County’s new Veterans’ Services Director Marc Coviello, a veteran, welcomed those who gathered.
“Today we join as one in prayer for them and all of the fallen. We keep in mind all who have borne the battle, whose commitment to duty has sustained our country and kept protected our legacy as a free people in a free nation.”
As Coviello finished his opening remarks, the Poughkeepsie High School Junior ROTC presented the colors to mark the start of the wreath laying ceremony. The wreaths included a tribute to Dutchess County’s most recent sacrifice in the war on terror – United States Navy Petty Officer Second Class Corey Ingram who died when the USS John S. McCain collided with another ship near Singapore.
Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro recalled that both of his grandfathers served in WW II and both believed it was something special when they went off to war. The aspiring governor asked everyone to think about “having just one more moment to spend with these American heroes; imagine how powerful that would be as a nation. That we would pause and remember why they served, why they died and what this country is founded on.” He finished his remarks by reminding all those in attendance that “freedom isn’t free!”
