The Crawford community showed its support and appreciation for veterans during its annual dedication last Saturday, November 11 at 11 a.m. in Crawford Town Park, featuring several speeches and veterans from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Catholic Veteran Wars.

The ceremony opened with a recital of “The Star-Spangled Banner” sung by Aileen Sager, followed by a prayer from Veteran Richard VanBoerum. Dominick Blasko, chief of Crawford’s police department, spoke throughout the event and introduced the other speakers.

“Today is really a celebration of men and women’s sacrifice, and their honoring America by serving, their patriotism, their love of the country and their sacrifice for the common good. Among us are a lot of our veterans; they are the true special guests today,” Blasko said, thanking each of the groups.

Charles Carnes, town supervisor of Crawford, thanked the community for coming out and thanked all veterans for protecting the country and its freedoms

“I just want to say, especially this year with everything going on around the world; look over to Afghanistan and Israel and such,” Carnes said. “We’re especially thankful for what we got in the United States here, and I want to thank all the veterans for what we have here,” he continued.

Blasko added that Carnes is currently working with local veterans on renovations for Crawford Town Park’s veteran monument, estimated to be complete by next year despite the delays.

“We got a grant and we’re working with them to make sure we can get it done by next year. We said that last year, but we really mean it this year. Unfortunately, the government sometimes, when funding federal funding and state funding, gets lost in translation,” Blasko explained.

John Wenzel, a veteran, gave a speech dedicated to veterans who are currently prisoners of war, or POW, and missing in action, or MIA.

“We are compelled to never forget that, while we enjoy our daily pleasures, there are others who have endured and may still be enduring agonies of pain, deprivation and imprisonment. Before we begin our activities, we pause to recognize our POWs and MIAs,” he said.

Wenzel further emphasized these missing individuals by explaining the ceremony’s special display: a small, lone table draped in white and adorned with various items. The table signifies that, while not all veterans will return home to their families, they and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

“We call our attention to this small table which occupies a place of dignity and honor; it is set for one, symbolizing the fact that members of our armed forces are missing from our ranks…they’re unable to be with their loved ones and families, so we join together to pay tribute to them and to bear witness to their continued absence,” he explained.

Kevin Colon, a Crawford police officer who served as an army and Coast Guard reservist, spoke about the major skills he learned during his 30 years of service.

“Three things: self-confidence, ambition and resilience. And those are things that can be applied to everyone regarding leadership, regarding your daily occupation, your home lives and that’s what I hold on to,” Colon said.

While they were unable to attend the ceremony, the Crawford Police Department’s other three veterans include Milton Skoufis, Patrick Swayne and Matthew Babcock.

Following Colon, the Pine Bush Community Band performed a military medley for the event. After the band finished, Blasko requested everyone to exercise their voting rights in more elections, stressing that veterans fought to uphold this freedom.

“We only had 800 people come out and vote last week. We really need to start taking control of what we think is important…I don’t care how you vote, I just need you to vote, that’s extremely important. That’s a right that the gentleman behind me fought for,” he said.

Dan D’ambrozio, a veteran who served 28 years in the military, was the last speaker, who stated that the American Legion is currently looking for new members and encouraged all veterans to reach out and join.

“It’s really important that, if you know a vet, you live with a vet, our doors are always open. We need members, we are getting a little bit older here. We need some young fresh blood,” he said.

The ceremony ended with another prayer from VanBoerum and the Pine Bush Community Band’s performance of “God Bless America.” Blasko also mentioned that the Town of Crawford Senior & Community Center was offering refreshments for the occasion.