WASHINGTON – People started lining up at the American Legion Hall on Congress Street in Rumford at 4:30 a.m. Friday. By 5:30, they were on their way to the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington. And 15 hours later, they were just outside the capital, in Chevy Chase, Md., weary, but happy to be there.

Norbert Gallant of Mexico, a Navy Seabee who fought in the Pacific, was thrilled to be going.

“I hope to meet a lot of friends. It’s about time we had this memorial. We’re losing a lot of men,” he said.

Research has shown that about 1,100 World War II veterans are dying every day.

The monument will be dedicated at 2 p.m. Saturday, with President Bush and former Sen. Bob Dole among the dignitaries to dedicate the monument on the National Mall.

Gerard Vallee of Rumford, a World War II Marine, was one of the first people to sign up for the chance to go to the nation’s capital on a chartered bus organized by Rumford Veterans Clinic nurse Loretta Bard. He served on the supply route in Trinidad.

“This really means so much,” he said. “I brought three cameras with me.”

World War II nurses and clerical workers were also in the group.

Edith Gallant of Mexico was an Army nurse in 1945-47. She wanted to attend the dedication for several reasons. Her husband and brother, now deceased, were also WWII veterans. She’ll be looking for the names of people she served with.

During the ride someone sang a rousing version of “Alouetta,” while Lucien Arsenault, a WWII veteran from Mexico, told a few jokes.

People talked of war friends, discussed the kinds of souvenirs they might bring home for their grandchildren and remembered past battles.

Myrtle Gordon, a member of the WACS from 1943-46, was a sergeant in supply stateside. Besides American soldiers, she also worked with German POWs.

“Everything worked out well,” she said.

She is a member of Buckfield American Legion Post No. 28, as were her two traveling companions Gloria Hall, a veteran of Desert Storm, and Barbara Finkbeiner, a Korean War veteran.

Lynden Clarke of Rumford, an Air Force veteran, terms himself a “veteran buff.” He has attended monument dedications for the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean Wall Memorial. And later this summer, he’ll travel to Camp Lejeune, N.C., for the dedication of the Beirut, Lebanon memorial.

“This dedication really means something,” said Vallee. “So many of the veterans are dying.”

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