Exhibit honors NYS troops killed during War on Terror
MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. » Many tears have been shed for the 306 New York servicemen and women killed in action during the global War on Terror.
The list includes David Taylor Miller of Saratoga Springs, Nate Brown of South Glens Falls and Anthony J. Denier of Mechanicville.
A traveling “Remembering Our Fallen” exhibit, on display this weekend at Mechanicville- Stillwater Elks Club, pays tribute to these and other heroes that have died in combat since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“What strikes me most about this is, you see the faces and uniforms and certainly they’re he- roes,” said Tom O’Neil, Elks Club district deputy grand exalted ruler. “Then you see the other pictures, the personal shots from when they were kids, and you realize they’re also sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, parents. They’re a sum of their parts. That’s what we need to remember, not just how they died, but who they were and how they lived.”
The photographic memorial wall was created by Nebraskabased Patriotic Productions, a non-profit whose mission is honoring America’s troops that have died serving their country.
Opening ceremonies were scheduled Friday evening, and the exhibit is available for viewing from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Accompanying text, which greets visitors, says: “Warriors of the 21st century ... come from all walks of life and every corner of our country, daring to go where so many never would. They retain the face of freedom and build upon the legacies of those who went before them in a cause greater than themselves.”
“We cannot all pick up the sword -- nor should we -- but we owe our support and gratitude to those who do, and to their families,” the exhibit says. “Each fallen hero shown here left behind family and friends who will never forget them and we must be there to support them.”
Patriotic Productions has created 15 different state-specific memorials and a national memorial as well.
The New York “Remembering
Our Fallen” wall was first shown at the USS Intrepid in New York City, in 2016.
This is its first visit to Saratoga County.
Each hero’s picture is accompanied by a brief description of when, where and how they died -- Miller, 19, from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on June 21, 2010; Brown, 21, ambushed during a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq on Easter Sunday, April 11, 2004; Denier, 26, by gunshot in Afghanistan on Dec. 2, 2012.
There are also numerous photos of troops overseas, shown with their buddies, while fighting to preserve America’s freedoms.
One panel on the exhibit says, “Daily our men and women give heroically to make a better life for those around them in far away countries. They do it without ceremony or formality; they do it because it is their job and they are driven by a sense of purpose few in other professions can understand.”
The Elks Club is located at 300 Park Ave. in Mechanicville.