CARIBOU, Maine — The Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery is set to host a Veterans Day event on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, with Sue Bernard as the keynote speaker.
NMVC Board Chairman Harry Hafford said the decision to select Bernard, who presently works as the president’s assistant at Northern Maine Community College, was easy. He said he has always admired her abilities as a public speaker as well as her journalistic skills from when she worked at WAGM-TV.
“So I asked her if she’d consider it and she said, ‘Yes,’” he said. “It was that simple.”
The event, which is open to the public, also will feature Linda McGlinn as the master of ceremonies; patriotic songs from Wendell Hudson; an invocation and benediction by Lloyd Woods; taps played by Fred Ormezanni; coffee and cocoa provided by CB and Vicki Smith; as well as recognize the Legion Riders of American Legion Post 147 of Madawaska for performing a 21 gun salute at all NMVC ceremonies and the Loring Job Corps for ensuring the Honor Guard is present for all ceremonies.
Hafford said it’s important to recognize that Veterans Day is meant to pay tribute to “all veterans and their service to this country” and that he thinks “it’s important that we support that.”
“Back when I was a young feller,” he said, “they drafted us, but we all went. Today, it doesn’t happen that way. They’re all volunteers, and less than two percent of the population is defending the whole country now. We owe them a great deal of thanks for doing that.”
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- Members of American Legion Post 147 of Madawaska perform a 21 gun salute during a Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11,2017, at the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery. (Chris Bouchard)
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- Larry Hall plays taps at the conclusion of the Veterans Day Ceremony on Nov. 11, 2017, at the Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery in Caribou. In the background is Harry Hafford, NMVC board chairman. (Chris Bouchard)
