Letter: Fine Day for a Parade and Tribute to Our Deceased Veterans

As I marched in our abbreviated parade Monday, I heard so many in the crowd offer up their thanks for the decision to hold our Memorial Day parade. Just like last year, when the threat of rain caused neighboring towns to cancel their parades and remembrances, New Canaan marched and remembered. We are a special community and we love our traditions. Some are joyous (the Family Fourth of July) some are religious (gatherings at Hanukkah and Christmas time on God’s Acre) and some are reflective (Veterans Day and Memorial Day observances). All of these form the bonds of our community and are marked on our calendars months in advance.

‘So Many Ways To Stay Connected’: New Canaan Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony [PHOTOS]

New Canaan’s Jim Talbot arrived in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, a major campaign of the war that launched in early 1968 and involved a series surprise attacks. A Maine native who had gone on to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Army Capt. Talbot by that time had undergone airborne and Ranger training, and spent one year stationed in West Germany. In six months as battery commander, Talbot saw four killed and 40 wounded in his towed artillery unit. “When you ask a veteran about Memorial Day, faces flash in front of us,” Talbot said from a podium outside the north entrance of Town Hall following a re-routed Memorial Day parade. “Memories of relatives in more distant wars arise from the fog of time.

Police Chief on Memorial Day: Honoring U.S. Military Veterans Who Gave Their Lives ‘For Our Great Country’

On May 29, Memorial Day, we honor those veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives for our great country. Memorial Day honors their service and sacrifice. Nearly 1,000 veterans are buried in Lakeview Cemetery. As Memorial Day approaches, it’s a good time to remind the good and patriotic citizens of New Canaan to be aware of phony organizations who “solicit” on behalf of veterans. In the past and just recently, Peter Langenus, the commander of New Canaan’s Veterans of Foreign War Post 653 received telephone calls from shoppers who had been approached for a money donations in front of ACME.