A salute to those who served
RAVENA — Each year the community turns out to salute its veterans on their day, honoring their courage, devotion and pride in country.
On Monday, Nov. 12, at precisely 11 a.m., veterans and their supporters gathered at Veterans’ Monument on Main Street in Ravena in honor of Veterans Day, which officially fell on Sunday.
Commander Ten Eyck Powell, of Ravena VFW Post No. 9594, conducted the service, with music by guitarist and singer Jack Covey.
“Veterans have always been in my heart,” Covey told the crowd.
He cited the statistics of veterans who commit suicide, reinforcing the message that they need everyone’s support.
“There are 24 veterans who take their lives every day. Please keep them in your prayers and think about them every day,” Covey said.
Powell spoke of the dedication of those who serve their country, and the meaning it has in their lives.
“We are always loyal. We are always faithful,” Powell said of veterans. “When you take the oath of officer enlistment, the first thing you say is ‘I — state your full name — swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to provide true faith and allegiance to the same. There is no end date, there is no expiration, there is no asterisk at the bottom of that that says ‘weather dependent,’ or ‘if I’ve got time.’”
“When we sign that, we mean that, and it is for the rest of our lives,” he added.
With Boy Scouts holding flags opposite the podium and a line of auxiliary members from VFW Post 9594 standing to the side, the community voiced as one its respect for those veterans who risked all for their nation.
Auxiliary member Mary Ellen Rosato, also a Ravena village trustee, recited the poem “Freedom is Not Free.”
Freedom is Not Free
By Kelly Strong
“I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform,
So young, so tall, so proud.
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
He’d stand out in any crowd.
I thought, how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?
How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many foxholes
Were soldiers’ graves?
No, freedom is not free.
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant “Amen.”
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn’t free!”
Among the veterans on hand at the ceremony was Michael Albano, a Korea War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy.
“I love this,” Albano said of the service. “There are a lot of people that still care in this country, especially in this community. It is a very caring community.”
Albano has 13 great-grandchildren, and said each of them was at the ceremony Monday.
One of his great-grandchildren, Dominic Hoffman, 11, said he wanted to honor his great-grandfather and others like him. He comes to the Ravena ceremony every year.
“My great-grandfather served in the war and without people like him, we would be in real trouble,” Dominic said. “I really appreciate what veterans have done because they risk their lives for us.”
Mason Springstead, also a veteran of the Korea War, who served in the U.S. Army, said it was gratifying to see how many people attended.
“This is very good. It is nice to see the community turn out like this,” Springstead said.
Auxiliary member Helen Barber said veterans sacrificed so that we could all enjoy our freedoms.
“I am so proud of what veterans do and give us, and the freedoms of our country, such as voting, which we did just a week ago,” Barber said.
Auxiliary member Marion Shields said her family has a long history in the armed forces, and that reliving memories of war could be difficult for them.
“My husband served in World War II in the South Pacific, and I have a great-nephew who just retired two years ago from the Green Berets, and his grandfather was a prisoner of war during World War II,” Shields said. “My husband never talked about the war. What we found out, we found out on our own.”
Following the service at the monument, everyone headed inside the firehouse across the street for refreshments.
