A TIME TO REMEMBER THOSE WHO GAVE ALL

On Memorial Day, a call not to forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice

KINGSTON, N.Y. » Memorial Day “has changed dramatically over the years,” Bill Forte, chairman of the Kingston Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, told a crowd gathered under cloudy skies Monday for the city’s annual ceremony and parade.

What was a day of solemn remembrance and “of visiting the graves of our departed veterans” has devolved into “a holiday filled with fun, where we forget to take a minute to say a prayer of think for our fallen service members,” Forte, of Kingston, said.

He continued, reminding the crowd to take a moment to recognize veterans whose wounds “can not be treated with surgery or bandages.”

Forte said “more than 20 veterans take their own lives in this country each day . ... ”

“These are the veterans that I ask you to remember today, along with those that made the ultimate sacrifice and those members of your families that served our country so heroically and proudly. May they rest in peace.”

Forte’s remarks were proceeded by an invocation by Rabbi Yitzhak Hecht of Kingston’s Congregation Agudas Achem, Kingston Mayor Steve

“Our community is as strong as we can be because we come together at moments like this." — Kingston Mayor Steve Noble

Noble, and U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook.

“Our community is as strong as we can be because we come together at moments like this,” Noble said.

Faso noted the “glorious day” and said the holiday was a reminder that “freedom is not free.”

Opening remarks were followed and proceeded by performances by the Kingston High School Alumni Chorus and the Ulster County Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Taps was played by Joseph S. Forte, 89, of Kingston, at the conclusion of

the service.

The Memorial Day parade was led in absentia by honorary grand marshal Dick Peters, who Bill Forte described as having “led the Kingston Veterans Association for over

22 years” and as a past commandant of the Ulster Detachment of the Marine Corps League.

More stories and photos on local Memorial Day observances, pages A3 and A4.

TANIA BARRICKLO — DAILY FREEMAN Joe Forte of Joyce-Schirick Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1386 in the town of Ulster, N.Y., plays Taps during the Kingston Memorial Day Service on the lawn of City Hall.

TANIA BARRICKLO — DAILY FREEMAN Members from Joyce-Schirick Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1386 in the town of Ulster, N.Y. march down Broadway as part of Monday’s Kingston Memorial Day Parade.

TANIA BARRICKLO — DAILY FREEMAN Poppy Queen Isabella Winegard, 7, daughter of Mara and Daniel Winegard of Stone Ridge, throws out candy as she rides up Broadway at the Kingston Memorial Day Parade on Monday.