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Memorial Day 2017 Rye student salutes veteran grandfather Ceremony honors all veterans

Portsmouth Herald - 5/30/2017

RYE - Anna Rose Marion's grandfather, Elliot, had always dreamed of visiting Australia. He died while serving in the Navy during World War II, before his dream could be realized.

On Monday, Marion, an eighth-grader at Rye Junior High, took the stage at Rye's annual Memorial Day ceremony to share her grandfather's story, reading her winning essay for the Rye Recreation Memorial Day Poster and Writing Contest.

"He hoped one small victory could be granted to him as a wartime compensation for his loss of innocence," said Marion. "However, it was a world war, and as a young man, underage no longer, there were no personal victories to be granted. Only more suffering on the other side. The war came and went, and Elliot Marion, my grandfather, never saw Australia. He passed away before he ever could. Yet as a family, we never forgot his single wish."

Marion spoke about her family's efforts to keep her grandfather's memory alive through their visit to Australia several years ago, and about the importance of taking the time each year to remember fallen veterans.

"Many veterans will never feel their homeland beneath their feet one last time before they fight for the freedom of the loved ones they left behind," said Marion. "Memorial Day honors our fallen heroes and their families. It is a day to shoulder one ounce of the grief that may never be spoken and suffering much too terrible to name for the families they left behind. Their pain is unimaginable.

This sacred day on the last Monday in May is not an excuse for relaxation, a day for swimming pools to open, and the best barbecue of the season. Most of all, it is not, and will never be, just a day off."

Marion and several other students from Rye Elementary School and Rye Junior High were presented with awards after sharing their poems and essays with the assembled crowd.

Guest speaker Jim Willey, a Rye resident and decorated veteran, took the opportunity to highlight the contributions of Rye veterans dating back to the Revolutionary War, and to recognize the families that carry on their legacies.

"This area that we live in right here around Rye and Portsmouth, we are rich in history of people who have made huge sacrifices, going back to the Revolutionary War, but through all the wars since," said Willey. "And even today, we have a Navy Yard right here (where people serve) every day."

The ceremony began with a parade from the Veterans Monument in the center of town to the green at Central Cemetery.

Participants in the parade included local veterans, New Hampshire Police Association Pipes and Drums, the Rye police and fire departments, Rye Junior High marching band, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.