ONEONTA _ Pipers, skydivers, pupils and Scouts joined veterans in Oneonta on Memorial Day to honor soldiers past and present and to note sacrifices that created opportunities to celebrate freedom in the United States.
Communities across the region held parades and memorial services Monday to mark the federal holiday, designated to honor dead service personnel of all wars.
Don Kelly, officer of the day at the Oneonta ceremonies in Neahwa Park, said he found a piece in an American Legion magazine that conveyed the importance of recognizing that the country's soldiers generally are ``youngsters'' _ short-haired, tight-muscled 19-year-olds, not old enough to buy a beer but old enough to die for their country.
``Fighting and dying has always been the work of the young,'' Kelly said. ``Remember them always because they have earned our respect and admiration with their blood.''
John ``Jack'' Palmer said he and his wife, Miriam, were proud their son Brig. Gen. Peter Palmer of the Army returned to his hometown of Masonville to speak during Memorial Day events.
The general, a Sidney High School and West Point graduate stationed at Fort Monroe, Va., talked about carrying on the country's heritage and that flags are flown at half-staff as a gesture of gratitude, his father said.
Palmer reiterated his son's comments that soldiers didn't die ``for words or wreaths alone. ... They died so that _ in freedom _ our nation might endure.''
In Oneonta, veterans, emergency service workers, students and others marched along Main Street in a parade from Chestnut to Grand streets. Behind a float portraying occupations the center teaches, Oneonta Job Corps Academy students carried a U.S. flag as wide as the street. The Oneonta Middle School band wore red and white shirts to accent blue jeans, and Oneonta firefighters marched to the beat set by the Oneonta High School band ahead of them.
Jets were heard flying by after the parade but weren't visible from Muller Plaza on Main Street. Paraders marched into Neahwa Park to the bandstand near Hodges Pond, as spectators wandered from Main Street to the park. Staff Sgt. David S. Hamilton, station commander of the Army's recruiting office in Oneonta, did not appear to give his keynote address.
Three men from Elk Creek Skydivers dropped from a plane above Neahwa Park and circled in descent, each bearing a flag _ United States, city of Oneonta and Prisoners of War/Missing In Action. The 8x12 foot American flag flapped loudly as Terry Knapp floated over trees and landed in a softball field.
``From 2,500 feet, when the parachutes open, we can hear the crowd roar,'' said Knapp, of Schenevus, who has made more than 1,400 jumps. ``They like it.''
Peter Mravlja of Westford, who bore the POW/MIA flag, said he has a ``good feeling to do something'' on Memorial Day because he is an Army veteran and his son is in the Navy.
Mravlja, who has made more than 2,200 jumps, said the team said a prayer in the plane before jumping in thanks to the Lord for veterans, military personnel and ``this great country and all our freedoms.''
Oneonta Mayor John Nader told the crowd in Neahwa Park that Oneonta will continue its tradition of honoring veterans and serving military personnel. Plans and fundraising continue for a proposed $500,000 memorial walkway in the park, he said, and a group of veterans, citizens and elected officials met in April to review plans and discuss details.
Veterans will be consulted about their vision of the walkway, which will be a regional veterans memorial, Nader said.
OHS students recited Logan's General Order and the Gettysburg Address. The Broome Celtic Pipes and Drums performed, and two musicians played taps as a duet, and the crowd sang the national anthem, led by Denise Michaelson, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Joyce Powell, of Oneonta, who was with her granddaughter, Lydia Green, 4, said seeing the skydivers, hearing music played by the Oneonta High School band and the large turnout made the day special.
``The spirit, the prayers and speeches,'' she said. ``It was lovely.''
