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Fair Village honors soldiers who gave all
Freeport hosts Memorial Day parade for first time in two years
Josefina Del Cid wiped her tears away with a handkerchief as two Freeport High School band members played taps at the end of the Freeport Memorial Day Parade on Monday. It was Del Cid’s first Memorial Day, and she could not contain her emotions.
She moved to the Village of Freeport three years ago, and eagerly awaited her first Memorial Day parade as a new permanent resident of the U.S. from El Salvador. But the rain, she said, halted the parade. Ditto for last year.
This year, the weather finally cooperated. The Memorial Day ceremony, Del Cid said in her native Spanish, “is so beautiful. I feel so connected to my community and so American. It feels so good to live here.”
Thousands of Freeporters lined Merrick Road for the community’s first Memorial Day parade in two years. The William Clinton Story Post 342 of the American Legion hosts the annual parade, and this year’s grand marshal was John Remsen Jr., with last year’s grand marshal, Lt. Col. Sandy Krigel, making a special appearance.
Dressed in his fatigues, active U.S. Army Reserves Lt. Col. Steven Drummond watched the parade closely with his son, Ayden. As the Freeport High School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps marched past them, Drummond explained their uniforms to Ayden.
“I want to remind [my children] that there are people sacrificing today, right now as we speak,” Drummond said, “in addition to those who sacrificed in the past. I’m grateful to see the turnout from Freeport and that folks took the time today to remember those who sacrificed so much for us.”
Dressed in patriotic hats and waving American flags, people in the crowd cheered as local organizations — the Freeport Police Benevolent Association, Fire Department, Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society, local school marching bands and nonprofit organizations — marched through Freeport streets, ending in front of the Memorial Library.
“This day, Memorial Day, we remember the men and women who died serving our country,” Mayor Robert Kennedy said. “Today will start the summer season, and we will start our family barbecues, but today should be a somber reminder to those men and women … let’s not forget.”
