Veterans, followers pay tribute to those who fought for freedom

Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

A veterans honor guard leads the way across the Livermore Falls Memorial Bridge on Wednesday morning to pay tribute to members of the armed forces who served and were lost at sea.

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- Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Joanna Said of Livermore and her sons, Benaiah, 9, and Jerry, 13, hold their hands across their hearts during a Veterans Day service Wednesday morning honoring a Thomas D. Winslow, an officer in the local militia during the War of 1812. The Winslow family cemetery, which has no headstones, is on the estate of Said's late grandfather, Lester Dow Sr. The Dow farm on the Crash Road in Livermore was once the Benjamin Winslow farm.

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- Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Veterans, family and others paying tribute to members of the armed forces on Veterans Day stop at the Winslow Cemetery on Crash Road in Livermore. The plot, which has no headstones, contains the grave of Thomas D. Winslow who served in the War of 1812.

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- Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Paying tribute to veterans at a war memorial on Route 4 in Livermore on Wednesday were Betty Houle, partially hidden at left, president of American Legion Bunten Unit 10 Auxilliary, Legion Post 10 Commander Michael Collins and his daughter, Zoe. 

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- Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

Members of a veterans firing squad fire blank rounds during a Veterans Day service on the Livermore Falls Memorial Bridge on Route 4 on Wednesday.

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- Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

A veterans honor guard led the way across the Livermore Falls Memorial Bridge before stopping to recognize those who served in the military and were lost at sea during Veterans Day services Wednesday.

The sound of their shoes touching the pavement and the Androscoggin River was all that could be heard as they walked to the middle of the bridge after World War II veteran, Don LeSuer issued a quiet order.

Once at their destination, American Legion Post 10 veteran Ken Bouchard spoke a few words before Legion Commander Michael Collins and his youngest daughter, Annabelle, stepped to the bridge railing and tossed a wreath into the river.

A firing squad punctuated the solemn service recognizing the thousands of veterans who have served the country. A recording of Taps was played as veteran Jocelyn Collins, Collins' wife, held a bugle.

The honor guard changed direction and walked back across the bridge; the American, Maine and Prisoner of War, Missing in Action flags held high.

It was the start of a series of services to pay tribute to veterans at memorials in Livermore Falls, Livermore, Jay and Fayette.

Cemetery stop

There was a new stop in Livermore this day, at the Winslow Cemetery on Crash Road where War of 1812 veteran Thomas D. Winslow and some family members are buried, according to Livermore historian Dennis Stires.

Thomas Winslow was born on the Benjamin Winslow farm, currently the estate of the late Lester Dow Sr., according to Stires. Winslow was an officer in the local militia during the War of 1812, a paymaster in the 2nd Regiment of Livermore, District of Maine, Stires said.

Winslow and his countrymen of Livermore responded to the call in 1814 to help defend Portland from a British attack, he said.

Dow's granddaughter Joanna Said and her sons, Benaiah, 9, and Jerry, 13, were at the cemetery on Wednesday.

"We like to go to these Veterans Day tributes," she said.

dperry@sunjournal.com