Rain and a gloomy forecast forced officials to cancel the annual Memorial Day parade, though speeches and remembrances were held inside Sharon Center School. The standing-room-only audience honored the town’s veterans, heard the Sharon Center School’s band and choir perform, listened to a three-gun salute held outdoors, held a bike-decorating contest and stood as taps was played.
During Monday’s observance, the town’s only son lost in the Vietnam War was remembered by his sister.
Carol Carley spoke about the night in 1967 when, as a sixth-grader, she heard the knock on the door that brought the devastating news that her brother, Michael John Carley, had been killed.
“It had been an ordinary night that forever changed my family’s and my life along with it,” she said. “I heard my mother’s wail that pierced my soul.”
Carley said she and her mother, Connie Worthington, who attended the ceremony, collaborated on the remarks she delivered.
She said her brother, disturbed by reports of the Viet Cong’s treatment of prisoners, decided to join the Marines. His son who was also in the audience, said his father was a helicopter pilot and received several awards, including the Captain’s Bar, 12 Gold Stars and the Purple Heart posthumously.
He was only two when his father was killed and has no memory of him, though he has since connected with several men who served alongside him.
Carol Carley said she spent years fantasizing that her brother wasn’t really gone and would someday return, but eventually came to accept the reality of his death. The family, she said, has learned how to celebrate his life while moving on with theirs.
She said the best way to carry on his mission is by serving others, “by giving of ourselves – identify the good in ourselves and honor those lost with our lives. Let us remember.”
