Owego Memorial Day Parade is Back in Person For the First Time in Three Years
The 154th annual Memorial Day Parade took place in Owego at 10 a.m. on Monday. The parade started at Temple street and worked its way over to the Tioga County Veterans Memorial where they honored all past fallen soldiers.
The 35th Annual Service of Remembrance was led by Jim Raftis today in Owego. Raftis is a veteran of the Korean War and has been running Memorial Day services since 1966 in Owego.
Raftis is proud of the Owego Elementary students providing flags for the holiday today.
“Each flag represents one of the fallen heroes. There are about 175 fallen heroes from all over Tioga county,” Raftis says.
The Tioga county courthouse was filled with people to listen to and honor everyone who has fallen mentioned at the service.
Raftis was able to have Patrick Van Durme as the keynote speaker for the event today. Durme is also a veteran who served as a chaplain in the military.
But as a chaplain in the military, he had different thoughts to provide to everyone in attendance.
“But you do want to say something that might again open up those pathways for healing for saying your son, your daughter, your spouse gave their best and did their job and served with honor and dignity,” said Van Durme
Van Durme wanted to encourage everyone in attendance to say a fallen warrior's name to honor them today in what he hopes will be done all across America.
“That’s why we are here celebrating that, the whole of America is what makes today an amazing day,” says Van Durme.
Raftis also wanted to honor the late Vietnam veteran Chet Harding for 40 years of veterans service including 800 volunteer hours restoring vandalized civil war monuments.
"Chet wanted absolutely no publicity and he left us without it, but I felt it important to honor him,” says Raftis.
The ceremony concluded with the Lost at Sea Ceremony on Court Street Bridge. As it remembered World War Two's first Fallen Hero Seaman Delmar Sibley aboard the USS Arizona.