Normandy remembered in Rumford ceremony

RUMFORD — William Petrie, commander of Napoleon Ouellette American Legion Post 24, told those at a Memorial Day ceremony Monday about his encounter with a World War II veteran at a cemetery in Normandy, France in 2000.

Petrie said he and his wife were “looking for stones of comrades from Maine who had died” and noticed a group of people nearby.

“While we were there, this older gentleman, must have been late 80s or 90s, took a rose and laid it on a cross. He knelt down on one knee put his arm on the cross, and put his head down. He was there for two, three or four minutes. When he got up, he was crying,” Petrie said.

He said a person with the group said to the older man, “‘He must have been a very good friend of yours.'”

Petrie said the older man responded, “‘I knew him for four hours. We got off the boat, the (Land Ship Tanks) and circled around and when we hit the beach, the front part of the (ship) went down and he dropped right beside me.'”

Petrie said, “I thought that was very emotional, and it struck me pretty good.”

Guest speaker at Monday’s ceremony at the American Legion Hall was John Madigan Jr., town manager of Rumford and Mexico, who served in the Army during the Vietnam War.

“Americans must remember that freedom isn’t free,” he said. “In fact, it’s only possible because our fallen heroes have paid its high price. A price paid, which enables us to have ceremonies and observances like this in towns across this great country.”

Madigan said, “We must never forget the families of our fallen. Long after the battlefield guns have been silenced and the bombs stop exploding, the children of our fallen warriors will still be missing a parent. Spouses will be without their life partners. Parents will continue to grieve for their heroic sons and daughters that died way too early.”

He said those families need support from all Americans. “Nobody can replace these fallen heroes, especially in the eyes of their families, but we can offer shoulders to cry on, assistance with educational expenses and assurances that their loved one’s sacrifice will not be forgotten,” he said.

“We are here today to reflect on the true meaning of Memorial Day,” Madigan said. “Let us remember that tyrannical regimes have been toppled and genocides stopped because Americans sacrificed life and limb.

“Let us remember that terrorists plots were foiled and killers brought to justice because Americans were willing to pay a high price. Let us remember that without a U.S. military, the world would be a far more oppressive and darker place. Let us remember that freedom never had a greater friend than the American soldier, sailor, airman, Marine and Coast Guardsman,” he said.

He closed by reading a poem titled “Retreat” that was written by his father, an Army medic who served in Okinawa during World War II.

Presenting the colors were Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant and Oxford County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Hart Daley. Daley also played “Taps.”

Members of the Mountain Valley High School chorus sand and American Legion Americanism Officer Kirk Thurston presented the One Man Table, assisted by Chaplain Joy Bordeau.

Laying the wreath were Urbain Arsenault and Ed Roach.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

Retreat

Flanked on the left by a bugle

Flanked on the right by a drum

Red and white stripes in the sunset

Downward and downward they come.

And I proudly stand at attention

At the sound of the evening gun.

For the flag is lowered at sunset

When the soldier’s day is done.

Then The Star-Stangled Banner is echoed