Memorial park is rededicated
Town officials and veterans honor fallen soldiers at park originally dedicated in 1924
Cumberland memorial honors fallen soldiers
CUMBERLAND – On Monday, Cumberland rededicated Veteran’s Memorial Park, located behind BF Norton Elementary School.
Mayer William Murray gave a speech referencing the history of the park.
“The Lonsdale company was a long-time manufacturing giant who help to shape the Valley Falls community for many years. In a most generous and patriotic gesture in 1924, Lonsdale donated this land to the Town of Cumberland. They did so for the purpose creating a Veterans Memorial Park to honor all those who serve in World War I, known then as The Great War. After years of planning and fundraiser the original dedication on May 30, 1924 was a very big deal.”
The original ceremony had an attendance of thousands. It included both a parade and a pageant performed by local high school students. The original dedication had veterans from the Civil War through World War I.
Murray then went into the detail about the improvements made to the park.
“Most important is the new veteran's memorial plaza where we are standing right now. This moment benches face a new flagpole mounted on a granite base, engraved with a thoughtful commemoration of the original 1924 park dedication. Thanks to all of you who supported this project and thanks especially to all of the veterans who have answered the call to defend the honor of the United States of America.”
Lt. Gov. Daniel J McKee, Cumberland’s former mayor, also spoke.
“We are here on Memorial Day remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. To secure our way of life. To protect our families. So honor those who died in that mission. That imperfect perfect journey we're on called democracy,” McKee brance, is absent. Many Americans have no experience with or connection with the military. There are many reasons for the disconnect. We have fewer and fewer veterans to share their stories. And many of our older veterans, World War II and Korean War, are passing at a rate of 8,000 per day. They often can't or don't want to talk about their service.”
Pachinko also has some recommendations on what to do about this trend.
“We can and all should make a difference. You honor our fallen comrades here again today, by being here today. I encourage you to join in the effort to spread the word about Memorial Day and observe the moments of silence,” he said.
Lastly, Pachinko had some suggestions about how we should treat our soldiers and veterans.
“One by one, spreading patriotism and simply saying thank you to our nation's veterans. Write letters to current service members, as I have benefited from myself, or create care packages. Or simply care for a spouse who is separated due ta a deployment or a surviving widow.” sacrifice of those who died in all our nation's wars. For decades, Memorial Day was a day in our nation when stores closed, communities gathered together for a day of parades and other celebrations with a patriotic theme.
Pachinko also spoke of the meaning of Memorial Day.
“It is a time to honor the men and women with love and respect for this great country, who carried themselves as the swords and shields for America. They served as a tip of the spear and kept war from reaching our front door and kept the enemy at bay over seas. Whether they were Navy, Army, Marine, Air Force, Coast Guard, these brave men and women have endured the worst of times so our nation can live and work in peace today.”
Pachinko then spoke of how Memorial Day has been subject to a growing trend.
“Sadly there is a current trend in recent times, for a growing percentage of American people Memorial Day is simply meaning a three-day weekend. Families might still gather for picnics, but the main theme, the patriotic core, the spirit of remem- Perez, the librarian, to offer thanks and present her a boutique of flowers. After that Schatz recited the names of the 29 soldiers and a bell was rung after each name. Then Schatz read aloud the names of the recently deceased soldiers and then the names of disabled veterans.
When Perez was asked later about the process of determining the town’s World War I casualties, she said “It was very intensive, because we had to really dig. Richard came into library, he had one article at first to go on, and it mentioned 29 people, but it never said the names. There was another article later that had names, but it had 50 names, and he was looking for the original 29. So we had to look through birth records, death records, military records, census records, all kinds of stuff to try dig up to figure out who the original 29 were, it went on for a couple months.”
Next to speak was Army National Guard Ranger Nick Pachinko, who had much to say on history of Memorial Day.
“In 1882 the nation observed its first official Memorial Day – a day set aside to remember and honor the said.
President of the Cumberland Veterans Council Richard Schatz, also spoke.
“It is very special today that we honor the individuals that were honored here, who served in World War I and gave their lives, up until the dedication of this original dedication of this park,” he said. “I would like to mention though that a lot of research went into obtaining the names. There was no real history that was recorded. There was only newspaper clippings and from those newspaper clippings I started to do research.”
In one newspaper article from 1924 he found a clue. It said that 29 service members from Cumberland who fought in World War I had died.
“So I had a number of 29 individuals, but who were those 29 individuals? So what we started to do is that we started looking at different records and while I was doing that I met a very patriotic librarian and when she heard what was going on she offered her service to team with me to find those 29 names.”
After a few months they found those names. He called up Carrie