Family is the theme this Memorial Day

NORTH CANAAN — Family is what Memorial Day is ultimately about, according to Tom Gailes, a Navy veteran who organizes the annual parade and ceremony at the Doughboy Monument.It is a unique way to view the day set aside to honor all who have given their lives for the freedom of the nation. Little children arrived hand-in-hand with parents and grandparents to wave flags and cheer on the marchers in the parade, which included the town’s oldest veterans and youngest Scouts, Little Leaguers and 4-Hers. They all stood together in quiet respect while the North Canaan Elementary School Band played the national anthem. There were more than a few in the crowd thinking about family members currently serving in the military, some on active duty in the Middle East.Before leaving, many walked by two additions to the Doughboy war memorial. Newly erected granite stones have been engraved with the names of those who have served, and those who still serve in recent conflicts, from Panama and Grenada to Operation Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. Families posed for photographs by a list of familiar names of hometown heroes. Names will continue to be added.First Selectman Douglas Humes welcomed the crowd, offered thanks to veterans on behalf of the town, and offered prayers for those on active duty, as well as their families. He spoke of his recent trip to Washington, D.C., and the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, where he found the name of Paul M. Cronk Jr., from Ashley Falls, whose funeral he remembered attending in 1967. Cronk was killed in Vietnam at the age of 20.“Today, we honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice,” Humes said. “Freedom is not free.”Parade Grand Marshal Steve Bergenty was interviewed by Gailes. Bergenty was just two years out of high school when he was drafted into the Marine Corps on July 3, 1969. About a year later he was on his way back, having barely survived. He had been deployed to Vietnam immediately after completing basic and specialist training. After about six months in-country, he was badly wounded, and made a long trip home while recovering, including a stop in Japan for surgery. He was awarded the Purple Heart.“All we can give you is our thanks,” Gailes said. “It’s an honor that’s been a long time coming.”He also thanked Bergenty’s wife, Debbie, for “dressing Steve up,” and noted that the family has long been an important part of the town.Bergenty extended his own thanks to the VFW and Marine Corps League, two veterans’ groups that he said have always been there for him.Gailes noted a Memorial Day tradition here that many people are unaware of: At 6:30 a.m., VFW and American Legion members begin making the rounds of more than a dozen local cemeteries, to lay wreaths and play taps at each. It didn’t matter that thunderstorms and heavy rain arrived here just as they headed out. Those same veterans were still damp when they headed over to Town Hall to line up for the parade and prepare an honor guard that would march and later honor the fallen with a three-gun salute.