OAKFIELD, Maine — A cool, rainy start did little to dampen the spirits of the men and women who both participated in, and turned out to watch Monday’s Memorial Day festivities.
A brief ceremony was held at the town’s cemetery earlier in the morning, as a light rain fell across the area. However, by the time participants were lining up for the annual parade at the Oakfield Fire Station, the rains subsided.
The parade featured several decorative floats, members of the Oakfield Little League marching, the Southern Aroostook Community School band, and a flatbed trailer carrying local veterans. The procession ended at the Four Corner Veterans Memorial, which was named for a post in the woods where the four towns of Oakfield, Dyer Brook, Smyrna and Merrill come together.
Richard Burton, commander of Frank B. Holden Post 52, welcomed the small crowd for the day’s ceremony to honor those men and women who sacrificed their lives while in the armed services.
Robert Goff gave the opening prayer. “We are so very grateful for the sacrifices these men and women have made to preserve our freedoms and protect our nation,” he said. “We thank you for providing them with the bravery and courage required to carry out their duty until their last dying breath.”
Chris Johansen, a former Marine, served as the guest speaker for the service.
“Today we have come here to remember and honor those who have done their duty and given the ultimate sacrifice,” Johansen said. “We pause to remember those who gave their lives in defense of our great country. How is it possible to honor such men and women, both the dead and the survivors? Perhaps we cannot do any better than to call them the greatest generation of the greatest country in the world.”
He added the best way to honor the memory of those who have served was to emulate their lives in times of peace and war. Johansen then recited the oath that every soldier takes upon entering the service.
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic,” he said. “That I will bear truth, faith and allegiance to the same. And that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to regulation and the uniform code of military justice.”
The Southern Aroostook Community Band, under the direction of Kermit McGary, closed out the service by playing the “Star Spangled Banner”, and “America the Beautiful” and “Taps”.
