Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Merrimack’s Ward Gleason, the son of a Marine, and his wife, Chrissy Gleason, the daughter of an Air Force veteran, share Monday’s Memorial Day Parade with their granddaughter McKayla Delude, age 2, before Ward returns to GI Stone, an outdoor landscaping enterprise he owns in Merrimack.

The parade, hosted by the local posts of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, commenced at a shopping center in the 400 block of Daniel Webster Highway and progressed nearly a mile to the Last Rest Cemetery, 7 Hillside Terrace. The gathering there, a site that is the eternal resting spot for many veterans of many wars, provided a tribute to those lost in all wars, whether at sea, in the air or on land in far-away countries.

“No horror could beat down their service,” Dick Peterson, commander of American Legion Post 98, told the crowd. “All the world, for what they gave, is indebted to their service.”

Peterson was joined by others who approached the podium to share their personal tributes to the lost and to those left behind to mourn a family member or friend. One speaker noted, “We all know someone.” A Civil War toll of more than 620,000 who died between 1861 and 1865 was emphasized as being more than in all subsequent wars.

Some who strolled the grounds of the privately-owned Last Rest Cemetery while awaiting the start of the ceremony noted the many grave markers inscribed with the names of veterans. Votive candles, flowers and military insignia graced some. Those interred there share company with citizens of esteem whose contributions to the country are well documented.

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Members of the Merrimack Veterans of Foreign Wars Post Post 8641 and brethren from the nearby American Legion Post 98, co-sponsors of the Memorial Day Parade, join the public at Last Rest Cemetery in a salute during the Pledge of Allegiance, a highlight that was a part of the morning’s remembrances on Monday of service members lost to war and of those serving today around the globe.

Resting there among the more than 15 acres, commissioned in the early 1800s, is James S. Thornton, great-grandson of Matthew Thornton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Nearby is the grave of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Nathaniel C. Barker, who served during the American Civil War. Another notable memorialized there is famed American Civil War composer Walter Kittredge. The musician was born in Merrimack and died there.

Spectator Tom Silva, a Merrimack veteran of the Air Force, and his wife Kathy watched the parade, an event established in 1868 to honor Civil War casualties. He said they came to the holiday parade to remember friends who served their country.

“Today’s youth would be well served if we brought back the draft, so they could share in some of our overseas commitments,” Silva said. “There also needs to be more recognition of the sacrifices families make when a loved one, male or female, is in service.”

Tom Beard, an Air Force veteran from Merrimack who has spent time in Iraq, Korea and Bosnia, concurred. He watched the parade with family members that included his wife Gretchen and two daughters, Emily and Callie. An Air Force scholarship recently was awarded to Callie, an 18-year-old Reserve Officers’ Training Corps member at UNH – the University of New Hampshire, in Durham.

“We want to honor those who were lost, some of whom were friends,” Beard said. “To veterans, this is the holiest of days.”

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Some of the Beard family from Merrimack attending the Memorial Day Parade on Monday include members, from left, Todd Beard, an Air Force veteran who was stationed at times in Iraq, Korea and Bosnia; his daughter Callie, 18, an ROTC member at the University of New Hampshire and winner of an Air Force ROTC scholarship; his wife, Gretchen; and daughter Emily, whose focus in school is environmental sciences.

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Scott Kurzweil, right, of Merrimack, director of the American Legion Riders, a group of around 50 veterans and military supporters based at American Legion Post 98 on Baboosic Lake Road, brings the group to a halt as they provide the final thrill for spectators watching the bikers who signaled the end of the Memorial Day Parade that traversed a portion of Daniel Webster Highway before turning on to Baboosic Lake Road near Town Hall and finishing their duty at Last Rest Cemetery, eternal home of many veterans from many wars.

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Dick Peterson, commander of American Legion Post 98, addresses a crowd at Last Rest Cemetery during the Memorial Day commemoration that followed the holiday parade, an event co-hosted by American Legion Post 98 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8461, that was attended by veterans, families and friends of those whose military service Peterson deemed a “divine sacrifice” made for their country.

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Brody Walker, age 4, of Litchfield, who attended Monday’s Memorial Day Parade with his “Nanny” and “Poppy,” flies the American flag as he awaits the approach of marchers, participants that included a police honor guard, a military honor guard, scout troops and performers from the Merrimack High School Marching Tomahawks, along with a contingent of motorcyclists from the American Legion Riders and many other celebrants.

Photo by LORETTA JACKSON Crowd favorites at the Merrimack Memorial Day Parade included some talented musicians from Merrimack High School’s Marching Tomahawks, students adept at playing while marching in formation a variety of instruments including drums, trombones and trumpets, along with saxophones, and other music makers.

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