Sober reflection under brilliant sun in Charlestown

By BILL CHAISSON
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CHARLESTOWN — On Monday it was a warm spring morning, about perfect for the Memorial Day events. At 10 a.m., with the Charlestown Police Department in the lead, the parade moved from Olcott Lane toward Sullivan Street. The police were followed by the Color Guard, members of the VFW, the VFW Auxiliary, the Fall Mountain High School Band, the Fall Mountain High School Junior ROTC units, the Jim Dandies 4-Hers, Cub Scout Pack 31, the Charlestown Middle School band, and the Charlestown Fire Department. Also marching were members of the Sullivan County Democratic Party and presidential candidate John Delaney, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

From Sullivan Street the parade returned to the military monuments in front of the Charlestown Historical Society. A crowd of 200 to 250 people gathered in a rough semi-circle around the members of the VFW, the Cub Scouts, and ROTC who stood at attention before the raised stage where Tim O’Hearne, commander of the Charlestown VFW Post 8497, served as master of ceremonies.

After an invocation by Major Robert St. Pierre, chaplain of the VFW, members of the ROTC, Cadet Cpl. Ethan Parrott and Cadet Pvt. 1st Class Angelina Lewis sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”

There was then a moment of silence for three members of the VFW who passed away this year: Earl Campbell, Herb Monroe, and John Pellerin.

Incoming post commander Tom St. Pierre dedicated the ceremony to Seth Perry, who died during World War II and still has relatives in Charlestown. Perry was a private in the 41st Armored Infantry in the 2nd Armored Division. In a haunting interlude Major Maynard and Cadet Lt. Col. Ruslan BierWeiler-Franks of the Fall Mountain Junior ROTC read the names of Charlestown residents who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for their country. These included Roswell Whitcomb, who died in World War I; Dana Cobb, Joseph Urbahn, Donald Welch, Everett Mason, Seth Perry, Holton Sayce, Phillip Farrell, Richard Foshey, and William Smith, all of whom died in World War II; David Gardner, who died in the Vietnam War; and Todd C. Ritch, who died in the First Gulf War. After each name was read, a single note was struck on a bell and was allowed to die away before the next name was read.

After a three-volley rifle salute, a bugler played “Taps” at a distance, the sound drifting in from behind the historical society building, while the honor guard and the crowd stood at attention. As the chaplain began the closing benediction, the members of the honor guard, carrying out a long-ingrained part of their regimen, policed their brass from the grass behind the monuments.