Veterans Park Offers Fresh Perspective On Memorial Day

ORLEANS – As an engineer, Russ Kleekamp appreciates the satisfaction of a job well done. But the newly renovated Veterans Memorial Park is a project that holds special significance to the retired Marine Corps corporal.

 What started, he recalled, as a drawing on the back of a napkin has materialized into a renovated park with walkways, bench seating, new memorials and bricks engraved with the names of America’s veterans. 

 “As a former marine, it is the deeper meaning of Veterans Park that has stayed with me the most,” Kleekamp, the project’s design engineer who served as a heavy machine gunner with the 1st Battalion 25th Marines from 1996 to 2004, told attendees of this year’s annual Memorial Day ceremony.

 In helping prepare the new park, Kleekamp, Monday’s keynote speaker, said he gained perspective on what is truly honored on Memorial Day. He recalled that while visiting a memorial in Centerville he came across markers for veterans as young as 15 years old.

 “It reminded me that for so many young people of that time, duty to the country came before everything else,” he said. “They gave of themselves so that others could have the opportunity to live in freedom, pursue their hopes and build their lives.”

 Despite overcast skies and the threat of rain, there was little dampening the spirits during Monday’s annual event, the first held at the park since its completion last year.

 “Freedom is not a gift we inherit,” said Kevin Higgins, chair of the town’s veterans committee. “It is a responsibility we uphold, and today, we renew that promise.” 

 In keeping with tradition, this year’s ceremony began at Town Cove, where Rev. Patrick Ward of the Church of the Holy Spirit gave an opening benediction. Members of the Nauset Regional High School band then tossed a ceremonial bouquet of flowers into the cove in memory of those who served and died for their country.

 A procession followed from Town Cove to Academy Place, where the ceremony continued in the renovated park. Kevin Galligan of the select board reminded attendees that the freedoms we can easily take for granted weren’t free, but paid for by the men and women who have and continue to dedicate their lives to serving their country.

 “It was paid for by young men and women who left places like Orleans, who said goodbye from kitchen tables and front porches,” he said. “Who put on a uniform and did not come home.”

 In the center of the park, an empty table and chair sat in remembrance of prisoners of war who never returned home from service. U.S. Navy Veteran Jon Fuller, a member of the town’s veterans committee, said the empty chair symbolized their absence, a plate of salt the tears shed by their families, friends and loved ones, and a slice of lemon the “bitter fate” of those who died in service.

 “You are not forgotten so long as there is one left with whom your memory remains,” he said. “Remember.”

 The Nauset Regional Middle School band and chorus provided music during Monday’s ceremony, including a rendition of Taps. The chorus also accompanied Andrew deLory, a retired U.S. Army photographer and veterans committee member, who dedicated his rendition of “Amazing Grace” to his late friend Stephen H. Warner, who was killed while on assignment in Vietnam in 1971.

Along the park’s back wall, 11 flags stood in remembrance of the Orleans veterans who lost their lives in service. Higgins also made special mention of Hank Veit, a Korean War veteran, and Phil Richardson, a Vietnam veteran, both of whom died over the past year. 

“So I just ask you simply today to carry one name with you,” Galligan said. “One name you know, one name from your family, one name from your friends, one name from our country’s history. Hold it quietly. Let it be your offering.”