NEW GLOUCESTER — Models of seven monuments to be built for the planned New Gloucester Veterans’ Memorial Park in Upper Gloucester were displayed on a float during the Memorial Day parade Monday.

The names of 950 military veterans from the town — from the Revolutionary War to the present — were written on them, giving people an opportunity to check them for accuracy before the monuments are made and inscribed, New Gloucester Historical Society archivist Linda Gard said.

The float was among the units in the two-mile procession from the AMVET Post 6 Hall on Route 100 to Memorial School on Route 231. Marching were members of the Gray-New Gloucester High School and Middle School bands, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, veterans’ organizations, the New Gloucester Fire and Rescue unit and a group of leashed goats.

State Sen. John Cleveland, D-Auburn, spoke to hundreds of people assembled at Memorial School for ceremonies. He suggested phoning veterans to thank them for their service to the nation.

“We are here to honor and remember all who gave their service to all wars to protect liberty and freedom,” he said.

State Rep. Ellie Espling, R-New Gloucester, said, “Our country has been blessed by brave men and women who served this country.”

AMVET Post 6 Commander Robert Wotherspoon Jr. noted that the first Memorial Day was celebrated in Waterloo, N.Y., on May 5, 1866, to honor Civil War soldiers who sacrificed their lives to assure America’s freedom.

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