WALLKILL/MIDDLETOWN—Orange County has given the lives of 832 men and women who died serving in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the post-911 conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Orange County Veterans Service Agency.
Their sacrifice has not been forgotten.
On May 30, several veterans groups from Middletown and Wallkill came together for a series of Memorial Day ceremonies to honor the fallen.
They first paid tribute at Wallkill Veterans Memorial Park. Veterans and soldiers in full uniform stood at silent salute. The air was heavy and hot.
They also visited the Middletown Armory, and Thrall Park. Soldiers fired a three-volley salute and wreaths were laid on veterans’ memorials. All were silent except for a trumpet playing taps, the mournful tune for the honored dead.
Jim Scali, vice commander of the American Legion Post #1181 in Wallkill, lays a wreath at a Korean War memorial at Wallkill Veterans Memorial Park in Wallkill on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Flags next to a memorial to Vietnam War veterans in Wallkill Veterans Memorial Park in Wallkill on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Representatives from the Army and Coast Guard before a veterans memorial in Wallkill Veterans Memorial Park in Wallkill on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Commander William Rios of the Marine Corps League Detachment 236 from Middletown (L) and Tony Colozzi, color guard with the American Legion Post 151 in Middletown at Wallkill Veterans Memorial Park in Wallkill during a Memorial Day Ceremony on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Commander William Rios of the Marine Corps League Detachment 236 from Middletown (L) and Tony Colozzi, color guard with the American Legion Post 151 in Middletown at Wallkill Veterans Memorial Park in Wallkill during a Memorial Day Ceremony on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Jim Scali, vice commander of the American Legion Post #1181 in Wallkill saluting during a Memorial Day Ceremony at Wallkill Veterans Memorial Park in Wallkill on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The bus of the American Legion Post 151 in Middletown during a Memorial Day celebration in Wallkill on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
U.S. Navy veterans in front of Middletown Armory during Memorial Day services on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A World War I monument in front of Middletown Armory on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Frenchy Gendron in front of Middletown Armory on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A memorial to those who served in World War II and the Korean conflict in Thrall Park in Middletown on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Color guard during a Memorial Day ceremony at Thrall Park in Middletown on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Members of American Legion Post 151 in Middletown during a Memorial Day ceremony in Thrall Park in Middletown on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Taps during a Memorial Day ceremony in Thrall Park in Middletown on May 30, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
