CHESTERVILLE — It was the hard work of Caroline Tibbetts, Greg Soule, Cindy Whittier and numerous others that reconnected Elsie Dill with her long lost cousin, Richard Bowie.

“My sister searched the internet for hours and finally found him. We have plans to meet up.” Dill said. She had no idea that Richard’s father, her uncle’s, name was on the Honor Roll monument in Chesterville until Caroline called her. Wendall Bowie served for eight years during World War II, finally coming home in 1946. Three years later he died in a car accident, leaving his two year old son, Richard, behind.

“Our reconnecting would have never happened without all this,” Dill said, gesturing to the crowd of people at Saturday’s memorial service in Chesterville.

This seemed to be a common thread throughout the crowd, relatives who had no idea that their family names were carved in stone in small town Chesterville, Maine.

“We have people here from all over Maine, from Bingham to Lewiston. We have a whole family here from New Hampshire as well as from Massachusetts,” stated Caroline Tibbetts, who initiated the organization of the event and called people personally to inform them about it. “We want memorial day to have more meaning to it. It’s not just about camping.”

Tibbett’s idea stemmed from her grandson’s interest in history. Alden Hallett wants to be a history teacher when he grows up and he had no idea that his great uncle served in WWII. “I wanted to show him what it means to have relatives who fought for our country. I wanted him to be as proud as I am.” Tibbetts said.

There were many children at the event, and representations from every generation in between. There were grandsons, granddaughters and sisters. There were mother-in-laws and sons and “well, he was my great great uncle, and these are my cousin’s children so that would make them…” we weren’t quite sure, but they were related and represented the town appropriately in their “Chesterville Chipmunks” uniforms.

“These are my two Lincolns. My father is 92 and my son is two so they are exactly 90 years apart,” Lincoln Grush’s daughter said, standing up in the Meeting House pew, bouncing a little girl on her hip. Little Lincoln wiggled in his seat, playing with a small American flag. Grush chuckled when I asked if he had any stories he wanted to share. “I’ve got a few stories. Yes.” But then he got quiet.

There were lots of emotions in the small Chesterville Meeting House on Saturday. “The human mind does not erase the terrible memories. PTSD is real. It is a condition of the mind, but not a disease,” Senator Tom Saviello read from an email sent by his cousin, Bill Bellenfant.

Saviello’s son is named after his uncle, Ben Bellenfant, who served for two years in the central Pacific. He finally returned home in 1945 after “beginning to wonder if he would ever have any other life other than death and fear of death.” He suffered “60 years of bad dreams and thoughts that woke him up terrified in the middle of the night.”

Saviello has made a speech each year in honor of Memorial Day. “Something always falls into place in the few days leading up to the speech and that is when I know what I want to say,” Saviello said. In this case, an email from his cousin describing his uncle’s time in service. The email inspired Saviello to search for more about his own father’s time in service.

Carmine Saviello was a merchant marine during WWII. There were roughly 200,000 merchant marines that served in WWII and out of that number, 50,000 were killed. It was the highest percentage of death in any branch of the armed forces during that conflict.

“My father had the sensitivity of an elephant. He called me one day in tears, saying “I’m a veteran.” Merchant marines were not considered veterans until about 20 years ago, an event that brought Saviello’s stone-faced, Italian father to tears.

“This is Lassie. She thinks she’s my professional greeter.” Richard Mason holds a smiling, chubby yellow lab on a leash, “I have PTSD and she’s my service dog. She’s so friendly and interacts with people in a way I sometimes can’t.”

Mason is not only a Mason, but also a Balser and a Savage, part of a family steeped in war history.

“I have a joke. They say the first shot was heard fired at Concord Bridge, marking the beginning of the war. My great uncle, Abijah Mason, lived in Concord. My joke is that Abijah fired that first shot, but he was actually just aiming for a deer. The Masons love to hunt.”

The Balser boys were from Chesterville. They were nick named “The Battling Balsers” for all of the time they served.

“We all have a little bit of claim to fame. I saved President Reagan’s butt one time. See, I was coming down this hallway, it was kind of dark, and I realized there was soap all over the floor. Being the 20-year-old that I was, I backed up for a running start and slid all the way down the hall, straight into Reagan’s security guys. If I hadn’t done that he could have been seriously hurt. He shook my hand and told me I was a good soldier.” Mason laughs at his story, the memory so vivid that you can see he almost isn’t present.

This was the most common thread of all at Saturday’s event. People with stories of good soldiers. 92-year old men who were once 20-year olds, learning fast to be adults. Being boys when they could, sliding down soapy halls. Before the trauma sets in and the years slip away.

“We have veterans that aren’t recognized as well as they should be. It isn’t because we aren’t grateful. It’s just the way life has become. The conflicts keep going on,” Greg Soule said.

Saturday gave everyone a chance to honor those who have helped keep peace and a chance to collaboratively hope for the conflict to end.

For more information about upcoming events at the Chesterville Center Union Meeting House check out www.chestervillemeetinghouse.org or call 778-3767. If you are a veteran interested in a canine companion contact TADSAW at www.tadsaw.org or call Bart Sherwood at 210-643-2901.