RUMFORD — Scores of veterans and several hundred residents turned out Thursday morning to honor the service of men and women during this country’s many wars.

New to the traditional ceremony, which is sponsored each year by the Rumford Veterans of Foreign Wars, was a flag folding ceremony with the meaning of each fold explained by Army veteran, and former Legion commander Bobby Richardson.

Vietnam veterans Mike Soubble and Dane Curato, both Rumford residents, in 13 steps, carefully turned the flag into the traditional triangular shape.

Soubble served in the Marine Corps. Curato, chaplain for the Rumford American Legion, served in the U.S. Army Security Agency.

Richardson said prior to the flag-folding ceremony that he had served on burial detail when he was in the Army.

“I’ve handed flags to widows and other family members,” he said.

The folds, explained Richardson, stand for tributes to mothers and fathers who have given their sons or daughters, to the servicemen who have served or who had given their lives. The ceremony ended with the 13th fold which means “In God We Trust.”

Emcee of the morning’s ceremony, Ron Theriault, told of the evolution of medical treatment of wounded soldiers from the Civil War, when women were the primary caregivers of injured soldiers, to the UHI, or “Huey” helicopters that were put into service during the Vietnam War that were able to move injured soldiers from the battlefield to a hospital quickly.

“Those Hueys were lifesavers, and are still in operation,” Theriault said.

“The Missing Man” presentation was led by Civil Air Patrol Commander Joseph Roberts. A one-person table setting, with each component symbolic of blood, hope and purity or other characteristic, was demonstrated in honor of servicemen who may still be missing.

Throughout the ceremony, music performed by the Mountain Valley High School Band or the Rumford Association for the Advancement of the Performing Arts provided a segue for each part of the service.

Featured speaker was Army Nurse Corp Lt. Col. Joseph Morin of Rumford. His grandson, Daniel Dore, has recently entered the Maine National Guard and attended the ceremony wearing an similar camouflage uniform as his grandfather’s.

After providing the history of Veterans Day, which began in 1919 as Armistice Day to mark the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I, Morin said he was concerned that some of the former Soviet Union’s beliefs that the United States can be destroyed from within might become reality.

“The first step in taking over (the U.S.) is to disarm the citizenry. We are seeing stricter gun laws, the president also wants stricter gun laws,” he said.

Roberts, who is also a pastor, ended the service with a prayer.

“For the ultimate sacrifice for those who are gone. And prayers for comfort for their families,” he said.

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