Routt County towns commemorate Memorial Day
Memorial Day services
■ Steamboat Springs
11 a.m. Veterans memorial at the Steamboat Springs Cemetery. Steamboat Springs Transit will provide free bus service from the Stock Bridge Transit Center. Buses to the service will run from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m.
■ Hayden
6 p.m. at the Hayden Cemetery. A community potluck dinner will follow the ceremony being led by American Legion Post No. 89
■ Yampa
11 a.m. at the Yampa Cemetery
Memorial Day services
■ Steamboat Springs
11 a.m. Veterans memorial at the Steamboat Springs Cemetery. Steamboat Springs Transit will provide free bus service from the Stock Bridge Transit Center. Buses to the service will run from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m.
■ Hayden
6 p.m. at the Hayden Cemetery. A community potluck dinner will follow the ceremony being led by American Legion Post No. 89
■ Yampa
11 a.m. at the Yampa Cemetery
Steamboat Springs — At cemeteries across Routt County on Monday, veterans will play taps on bugles. They will read the names of deceased soldiers. They will honor their service and sacrifice.
“There’s no way we can ever thank them enough,” Hayden resident Carlyn Staudt said about the veterans. “And whether they died in action or in old age, they all served and gave whatever they could to keep us free.”
Staudt, a member of the American Legion Post No. 89’s women’s auxiliary, helped decorate the graves of veterans Friday with American flags in preparation of Memorial Day.
“It leaves you a little chocked up when you see how many there are and all the different branches of service and when they all served,” she said. “We have so much because they have given us so much.”
Staudt and her husband, Ron, have attended Hayden’s Memorial Day services for the past 17 years. Post No. 89 Commander Seth Huntington said this year’s service, which begins at 6 p.m. Monday at the Hayden Cemetery, will include a memorial speech, flag-lowering ceremony and rifle salute. He said it won’t stray from the programs put on in previous years.
“We hope that it brings a lot of people out and makes them remember those who have fought for the freedoms we enjoy,” he said about the service. “We focus on service members that have passed on, and we try to remember the life they had. It’s nice to reminisce. Although we all served at different times, we can relate to the person next to you because you’ve essentially fought the same battles.”
The service will be followed by an annual potluck dinner.
In Steamboat, the service will have a rare focus. The 11 a.m. Memorial Day program will pay tribute to Routt County’s Vietnam- and Cold War-era veterans, including two young men who were killed in action while they served in Vietnam.
“I thought this was a good time to take a group of vets that never really got their recognition and say, ‘thank you,’” Vietnam-era veteran Jim Stanko said. “We thought this was an opportunity to put an end to that chapter and make sure those people get the recognition they deserve.”
Down in Yampa, veterans and community members will pay tribute to soldiers who served in many wars ranging from the Civil War to current conflicts.
American Legion Post No. 189 adjutant Ed Farrington said nearly 100 flags grace the cemetery to mark Memorial Day. He said the service is an important annual obligation.
“It really seems like there is more patriotism in these small communities,” he said. “Every one of us knows the people who are buried. (This service) brings back memories of some of the good times and some of the more sincere times.”
Veterans buried or memorialized in Steamboat area
Vietnam veterans killed in action
David Fogg, Marines
John Vialpando, Army
Vietnam veterans
Robert Acree, Army
Ralph Anderson, Army
Myke Baar, Air Force
Pat Barber, Army
Jan Bensenberg, Navy
Gerald Boggs, Army
Grant Bryant, Marines
Douglas Buchanan, Army
Fred Camilletti, Marines
James Chew, Army
Frank Chotvacs, Marines
James Cullen, Army
Stephen Damelia, Army
Russell Dodd, Army
James Dorr, Air Force
Newt Dorr, Army
Edward Evans, Army
David Flood, Navy
Irwin Freiberger, Navy
Robert Fry, Air Force
Louis Gabos, Marines
Ernie Girard, Army
Dean Girard, Army
Frank Guire, Army
Corky Heid, Army
Tom Hickman, Army
Douglas Holmes, Army
Roger Horn, Army
Terry Hughes, Army
Richard Johnston, Army
Joseph Lake, Air Force
Roger LeFever, Army
Frank Leonard, Army
Stephen Maloney, Army
Roger Russell, Army
Vernon L Seaman, Army
Albert Sena, Army
George Serenko, Army
Douglas Sherrod, Navy
Allan Simillion, Navy
William Smith, Air Force
William Stonebrink, Navy
Mario Vigil, Army
Dan Wagner, Marine
Gordon Weiss, Army
Jon Westfield, Air Force
Chester Wheeler, Army
David White, Air Force
William White, Army
To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210 or email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com
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