Bennington marches to honor veterans
Toolbox
By PATRICK McARDLE STAFF WRITER - Published: November 12, 2009
BENNINGTON – The local Veterans Day parade had a new destination at a traditional site this year.
Members of the American Legion, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Disabled Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Mount Anthony Union High School band marched on Wednesday on Main Street and down North Street for Veterans Day to the Vermont Veterans Home.
This year, however, a memorial was in place which is almost complete.
John Miner, president of the Vermont chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, told the audience that the memorial would soon be finished.
"As we stand here before you today, we remember that we made a promise to you four or five years ago that we would build a Bennington honor roll. … And I can promise you right now, and I shouldn't say this, that if (our funding request) is passed at the ballots in March, that next Memorial Day we will have the Bennington honor roll out here on this lawn. We are that close to finishing the project," he said.
In October, the Bennington Select Board took the relatively unusual step of agreeing to place a request for a $50,000 appropriation for the memorial on the ballot for town meeting in 2010. Agencies are generally required to submit a petition in order to secure a place on the ballot but several Select Board members said they were willing to make an exception because Miner promised it will be a one-time request.
The federal government has also committed to providing an $80,000 grant, which will be administered through Vermont's Department of Buildings and General Services, to help complete the final phase of the memorial.
The memorial already has carved stone monuments to Vermont's Medal of Honor winners; Gold Star mothers, mothers who have lost sons or daughters who were killed while serving in the military; and flag poles flying the U.S. and Vermont flags.
Many of the inscribed bricks, which were used to raise money for the memorial, bear the names of soldiers who served.
During Wednesday's ceremony, Gold Star mother Josie Colvin, of Bennington, who lost her son, Pfc. Gerald Colvin, during the war in Vietnam visited the stone monument while a moment of silence was observed for those killed at Fort Hood, Texas.
Bennington Town Clerk Timothy Corcoran reminded the audience that there were some veterans who were in danger of being forgotten. Corcoran said he had found records of a request from the American Legion in 1920 to name streets after Benningtonians R.A. Warn, I.A. Bent, G.E. Larin, A.G. Gratton, F.C. Horst, F.W. Towsley, G.I. Oesterle and H.J. Rugg.
"For unknown reasons, the request was denied and there is no one alive today that can remember these deceased soldiers. Seeing their names, I ask myself, 'How did they die? Did they die alone? Did they suffer?' But there is no one here today to answer those questions. So as we gather here today to honor all those who have served, I would like to give a special note of thanks to those eight veterans that died in France in World War I who were not recognized for their service," he said.
Miner called attention to his wife, Joyce, who died of cancer in June, as a reminder that it's not only soldiers who sacrifice for their country.
"She was, as is every woman who stands behind a veteran, there to support us. I can't say enough about the women in our lives. We have put them through a lot and they stood beside us. We always forget that. I don't want to forget that today," he said.
There are two benches at the memorial, one in memory of Joyce Miner and the other in memory of Gerald Morrissey, the father of Rep. Mary Morrissey, R-Bennington.
"We wanted to remember our dad in a way that would remember all of the veterans. Families and veterans can come and sit at this site and at the memorial to remember their service and to remember those that they served with," Mary Morrissey said.
patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com
29