Cazenovians thanked American veterans for their service and sacrifice last week during the community’s annual Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 11, in Memorial Park.
“While we pause on Nov. 11 to honor and remember our veterans, we must also remember the enormous toll on their families as well. Lives put on hold while mommy or daddy is deployed, long nights of no sleep worrying about a son, daughter, mother, father or a sibling who is in harms’ way. The cost of serving our country takes an enormous toll on the veteran and the family. A simple ‘Thank You’ to the veteran or the family is greatly appreciated,” said Post 88 Commander Richard Benner in his remarks during the ceremony. “Although we are insulated from many problems here in Cazenovia and blessed to have our biggest controversy, involve whether or not to allow competition in or remain a monument to the past. In the real world, people in our armed forces are serving our country. Just this past week, members of the United States Armed Forces were killed in Afghanistan. While we bicker about chain store appearance and viewscapes. Men and women, who proudly served our country, struggle with unemployment, homelessness, pain from injuries incurred while serving and thoughts of suicide.”
The theme for the day was “Focus on the Flag,” and the Cazenovia American Legion honored local veteran Karl Monson, whose letters home from World War II were read aloud. A folded American flag was then presented to him while Maddie Filkorn, a Cazenovia High School senior, played a violin rendition of “Ashokan Farewell.”
Monson, a World War II veteran, joined the U.S. Army in 1941. In June 1942, he was assigned to A Battery 602nd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion. On June 12, 1944 the 602nd joined the Normandy Invasion on Omaha Beach. His battalion went through four major battles including the Battle of the Bulge sustaining high losses. In May 1945, he was discharged from the Army at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois.
Several decades ago Monson wrote many “Letters to his Children,” one of whom is Sharye Skinner of Cazenovia. Several of his letters were remembrances of his experiences during his service in WWII that involved the American flag.
Post 88 Chaplain Al Keilen read excerpts from two letters. The first one stated, “In the early evening captain Bill Rowe and I drove into Paris not knowing if the Germans were going to put up a fight or just run. There were a good number of GI’s and free French troops moving toward the city. Somewhere along the line we came upon an American piper cub type plane that crashed and the dead pilot was still in the cockpit and someone had spread the stars and stripes over the pilot and plane. I have always believed that a French person brought out this American flag as a memorial.”
In another letter, Monson wrote: “I remember so well when the jeep wheeled into headquarters and we were told that a German buzz bomb’s motor had stopped unexpectedly and crashed into the D Battery convoy killing 47 of my men. When daylight came 47 men were covered in the stars and stripes. Today, I want the flag waving so I may never lose the sacrifice of those men. I love the flag that I so often see only through tear filled eyes — even today.”
After the excerpts were read, Post 88 members Jack Mott and Ron McDermott folded an American flag and presented it to Monson, who was accompanied to the ceremony by his daughters, Sharye Skinner and Betsey Gray.
“I feel very humbled,” Monson said after receiving the folded flag.
Rory Flannery, a Cazenovia High School senior, then sang the national anthem.
After the ceremony, veterans and their families were invited to the Cazenovia American Legion’s Post Home on Chenango Street for lunch provided by Post 88’s American Legion Auxiliary.
Memorial Day is set aside in May as a day for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of our country. Veterans Day in November gives an opportunity to thank the living veterans for their military service, and to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated.