Memorial Day honors the fallen

Picture perfect blue skies and pleasant temperatures welcomed veterans and guests on May 30 to Owego, N.Y. for a Memorial Day parade and remembrance ceremony. The Court Street Bridge and Tioga County Veterans Memorial Park were adorned in red, white and blue flags and wreaths.

Memorial Day honors and remembers service members who died while in active military service.

The Memorial Day activities also included an annual Roll Call reading of deceased veterans buried in all Tioga County cemeteries as well as the reading of deceased veterans since Veterans Day.  

The parade kicked off at 10 a.m. and followed a route through the Village to the Memorial Park. Jeff Gural, owner of Tioga Downs and CEO of American Racing and Entertainment LLC, and an avid supporter of the County’s communities and veteran causes, served as this year’s Parade Grand Marshal.

Prior to the ceremony, Jim Raftis, Sr., Master of Ceremonies, spoke via speakerphone with Erwin Flohr, a resident of Helmond, the Netherlands, and who has traveled to multiple American military cemeteries to honor Tioga County service members buried there.

Raftis welcomed Gold Star family members and recipients of the Pearl Heart and Valor medals to approach the memorials. Barbara Bilbrey, mother of SPC Charles E. Bilbrey Jr., who lost his life while serving our country in Iraq, along with Ken Easton, former Owego Fire Chief and a member of the Purple Heart Riders National Association and his wife, Donna, took part. 

Easton, accompanied by a seeing-eye dog in training, remarked, “Every state has a Purple Heart Riders Chapter,” and further explained that the organization, made up of a brotherhood of Combat Wounded Veterans, participates in parades and hosts various benefits for veterans.

Owego Elementary students then came forward to present flags to the V.F.W. Post 1371 Officer of the Day, Walter Beardslee. Each flag was placed in a remembrance basket and represented a fallen Tioga County hero. 

Raftis welcomed other speakers to the podium, including Deacon Mike Donovan of Blessed Trinity and St. Patrick’s Parish, who offered a prayer.  

Gural approached the podium and shared, “I lost two friends in Vietnam, so anything we can do to help the veterans is something I firmly believe in.” 

Al Eaton, a Southern Tier Veterans Support Group Board member, asked the crowd gathered to give a round of applause for Jim Raftis, Sr., and in recognition of the notable work that Raftis has accomplished for veterans in the County for 50-plus years. 

Raftis recognized and remembered Chet Harding, a Vietnam veteran and Owego resident who passed away on March 20.  Harding devoted countless hours to numerous veterans’ projects and events, and consistently went above and beyond in giving back. Harding was an Honor and Color Guard member, a former President of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 480, stood vigil at the Tioga County POW/MIA service, and organized Project Homecoming along with a venison food program for Vietnam Veterans in the County, just to name a few. A most notable task, Harding restored 80-some Civil War graves at Evergreen Cemetery. 

Raftis remarked, “Chet did more for veterans in 40 years than any veteran I know,” adding, “His honor and spirit live on.”

Keynote Speaker and retired U.S. Army Chaplain Captain and Bronze Star recipient Patrick Van Durmie commented, “The real heroes are the simple men and women who go and do their jobs (to defend our Country),” adding, “And we all fought for the whole flag, not just the red stripe or the blue field.”

Van Durmie explained that he wears a bracelet inscribed with the names of two men from his unit who passed away while in the line of duty. He said, “They both died in action, and I wear the bracelet because these two men are important to me.”

Referring to a comment made by Raftis, Van Durmie encouraged the crowd gathered, and especially young people, “Just go up and find a name (etched on the Memorials) and say that name out loud, take time to remember any one of the names.”

Van Durmie served as a Chaplain in Northern Iraq and on one occasion celebrated an Easter Vigil Mass in a 1,500-year-old monastery for some 300 troops; a monastery later destroyed by ISIS.

The Owego Free Academy marching band performed the National Anthem as well as a patriotic medley of Armed Services tunes.  

At the conclusion of the ceremony, U.S. Navy fallen heroes were honored by a wreath thrown by Navy Veteran Gail Ghinger upon the Susquehanna River and V.F.W. Post 1371 Honor Guard member, Steve Palinosky, performed “Taps”. A rifle salute by Honor Guard members concluded the ceremony.