Editorial Staff.
The morning of Memorial Day 2018 was cloudy and cool for the parade and ceremony. In case you missed it, here are some pictures, as well as the speeches, so that you may reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day, a tribute to our fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. In our town’s parade, we don’t have floats, and people don’t throw candy. We have veterans, scouting groups, the fife & drum corp, and a few sports teams, and it is a solemn affair, befitting the day. At the conclusion of the parade, on the Higganum Green, Logan Leslie, HKHS Class of 2004 and former US Army Green Beret who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Qatar, gave the Memorial Day address, which can be found here: 
“It’s so wonderful to be up here right now, seeing you all out here on this sacred day. You are literally America. And this is why we soldiers fight: not because we hate what is in front of us, but because we love what is behind us. And that is you. We veterans love you all more than you know.
I had the amazing honor of speaking here on Memorial Day four years ago. My daughter Lila was 2, and my daughter Scarlett was only 6 months. I spoke about the many friends I’ve lost along my path of service. My daughters are now 6 and 4, and there are regrettably a few more names on my list of fallen friends.
This day is a solemn day, no doubt. There are many of our Haddam friends and family here today who have lost their brothers and sisters in battle. And that is a sad, solemn thing. But we can also view this day with joy — a day of celebration of service, conviction, duty, and of lives well led.
When I was a young Private in the 101st Airborne division, a handful of months after my 18th birthday, we lost a soldier in my company to an accident. His name was Obra Foster, a man of color from a tiny town in Texas called Waxahatchee. His funder was on a clear, still morning, before the heat of the day arrived. It was my first time serving as a pallbearer. My fellow platoonmates and I expected a grim ceremony, but we were met with a glad celebration of Foster’s life. It was a day of singing, dancing, and laughing in that small Baptist Church. Foster’s family undoubtedly grieved, but most of all they celebrated the special, honorable man that was their child.
This is what Memorial Day means to me. We celebrate the special, honorable soldiers that are Haddam’s children. This town sent 21 of them to fight the British and secure our country’s independence. We celebrate the eleven that didn’t return alive, including Jacob Bailey, Jr. who died at the Battle of Stoney Point — a daring and successful nighttime raid on a British outpost in New York… the original Special Forces raid. This town lost over two dozen of its sons fighting the Confederacy, and helping a substantial portion of our American population on their long, painful march towards equality. We lost three in the Great War, and eight more in World War II. One World War II veteran, Erwin Clark Parmelee, fought off the Japanese as they attacked Pearl Harbor. He went on to serve in the Battle of Midway, and ultimately laid down his life for his fellow sailors by choosing to continue making underwater repairs on his naval cruiser after it was struck by a torpedo. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, a valor award only second to the Medal of Honor.
Haddam lost three more in Korea, and two in Viet Nam, one of which was James Manning, who received the Silver Star for his exceptional gallantry in battle. While thank God Haddam has not lost any of its sons or daughters in the War on Terror, this town sent dozens into the fight. My good friend and fellow Green Beret Tommy Grasso is one of the most decorated soldiers of the war, with a Silver Star and multiple Bronze Stars for valor. Although Tommy is too humble to describe his experiences, a mutual friend was the commander of the mission for which he was awarded his Silver Star, and he described it as a “suicide march against hundreds of enemy.” While Tommy is thankfully not on this monument, he was prepared to be.
I celebrate all of these Americans today, and we should be brimming with pride and admiration for their families, and for this town for having produced such heroes. We are one family. And so, what do we do with all this? Our grief? Our admiration? Our joy that such men and women lived? There are three things that come to mind.
- First, honor what our fallen died for. Honor what it means to be an American, and everything that comes with it. Whether it’s a fellow American’s conviction and bravery in their protest for justice, or whether it’s your neighbor’s vote cast for a candidate that you disagree with. This great experiment of ours is truly precarious, and while the brave red blood of our soldiers will unfortunately probably always be necessary to secure our liberty, it also requires our willingness to defend our country with our words, our actions, and most of all our love and understanding of our neighbors when we disagree.
- Second, honor all of our veterans. There are many here who came back from their war, after giving this country their entire heart without reservation, whose dear friends ended up on a monument like this, who were not honored. The pendulum has since swung the other way, but remember why we are in debt for the service of all of our veterans, regardless of where or how they served. While there is tremendous courage in the final moments of a fallen soldier’s life — fighting through the fire and thunder, the majority of the courage came in the moment that that soldier volunteered. It’s quite a thing to fully submit oneself to a cause with an unknowable outcome. The nation can send you anywhere, to fight anyone, and you must trust that it is in defense of what we hold dear. In the battle, the Lord will reach down and take who he wants, and there is nothing to be done about it. He reached down and took friends to my left and right. While only some of us are chosen to lay down our lives, we have all given a piece of our heart.
- And finally, number three. Ask yourself: Are you making a difference? Not everyone is called to serve in a military uniform, but we should all seek our call to serve in our own way. Ask yourself are you doing enough to help your fellow man? Are you truly making a difference?
God bless you all, God bless America, and God bless our fallen.”
An eighth grade student, Meghan Craig, from Haddam Killingworth Middle School read her essay, “The Past and The Future,” that won the annual Memorial Day essay contest at the school. We obtained permission from Meghan Craig and her parents to publish it here:
Politician Jennifer Granholm once said, “We honor the dead best by treating the living well.” Growing up, I never truly understood the full purpose of Memorial Day. All I knew, was that it was an opportunity to pay homage to the people who’ve died while serving our country. Even so, I didn’t know how to properly respect those soldiers lost. However, a recent trip to Washington, D.C. cemented the importance of the day to me.
As I walked next to the Vietnam Memorial, I found myself surrounded by over 58,000 names. 58,000 untold stories. 58,000 lost lives. It’s shocking to think this memorial depicts just a single war out of countless. The total names of those who’ve died for our country could fill endless walls.
Searching through the glossy, dark wall, my eyes solemnly absorbed each name of the deceased or missing. I observed my reflection in each panel, which gave light to the past and the future.
At that moment, I realized that those soldiers gave their lives for our future. They had such an astounding faith in what lay ahead of this country that they were willing to sacrifice their lives. This level of selflessness and bravery demands to be repaid, and I firmly believe the best way to repay the dead, is by supporting those who continue to risk their lives for our rights.
Freedom is never secure. There are over a million men and women, right now, fighting for our nation. Their sacrifices are no different than those of the dead. These people deserve to be valued in ways the dead never were. They deserve to be reminded of their bravery, of their righteousness, and of their heroism.
But with today’s sheltered society, it’s so easy to grow ignorant. It’s so easy to forget to sacrifice our wants at least once a year. It’s so easy to get swept away by the mindless, materialistic things that we surround ourselves with. It’s so easy to forget that without soldiers, we wouldn’t have any of these comforts. It’s so easy to forget that our disrespect towards them will discourage others from joining the fight for freedom.
To me, Memorial Day shouldn’t just be about remembering those who’ve been lost; it should also be about using the memories of the dead to preserve our nation’s future. We must ensure that those soldiers did not die in vain. The best way to do this is by encouraging and supporting the force that continues to allow us to live in such a privileged world. After all, the best way to honor the dead is by respecting those who are still alive.
If you would like to watch the Memorial Day ceremony, you can find it on the Town of Haddam Facebook page. 
Alex Lara, 7th grade student at HKMS from Haddam, read his poem at the Killingworth Memorial Day Parade.
Arlington by Alex Lara
Soft gray clouds roll above,
A weathered grave in sight.
A thousand more on the left,
And a thousand more on the right.
Each one different, yet the same.The grave itself is humble,
As was the soldier buried.
No newspapers blared his triumphs,
Nor the victories he carried.At rest beside him lies a private,
His story cut quite short,
Dying of a sickness,
Within a calm and peaceful fort.Lying to the other side a General,
Winning battles big and small.
Awarded for his audacity,
Considered a hero by all.How can these soldiers,
Who in different ways have died,
Who contributed unequally,
Be buried side by side?The reason for this lies within
The risk these soldiers take,
To wade into the tides of war,
And get swept in the wake.Therefore, on this sacred day,
We remember every soldier’s life.
How each shielded us,
And fought for us,
In the cold and bitter strife.
Photos by Olivia Drake.
