‘We are here today because they lived’: Standing crowd attends annual Memorial Day ceremony

Although the United States may not feel like it’s at war, America’s armed forces deploy and fight at home, abroad, “and often at any time,” according to a veteran of U.S. Army and resident of New Canaan. MyLinh Brewster Shattan.

Speaking to a crowd gathered in the City Hall meeting room for the annual Memorial Day ceremony, Brewster Shattan said she had attended two military funerals and a unit memorial in the past nine months.

The parents of two of the victims – a 24-year-old woman serving as a reconnaissance platoon leader in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and a 38-year-old man aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk deployed after Hamas attacks on Israel – are friends of Brewster Shattan.

“Both parents and their children, all six served in the United States military. » Brewster Shattan told the standing-room-only crowd at City Hall, gathered there instead of Lakeview Cemetery, because the annual Memorial Day parade had been canceled due to expected rain.

“What is the purpose of Memorial Day? To honor them. To honor the dead,” she said, adding that we honor them “because they lived.”

“We honor the Americans who gave their all from the revolution to Vietnam and today’s conflicts,” Brewster Shattan said. “More than 1.3 million men and women. I ask you to share with your friends, family, neighbors and children the purpose of Memorial Day: to honor the dead. Please take a moment of silence in remembrance of those who once lived and played ball, who practiced lines in the senior game, who helped us achieve the blessings of freedom. And remember why we are here: to say a prayer of gratitude that such men and women lived.

She received a standing ovation at the end of her opening speech.

The approximately 40-minute ceremony was attended by First Selectman Dionna Carlson, Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll, Fire Chief Albe Bassett, Police Chief John DiFederico, members of the Emergency Medical Services of New Canaan, the Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, local clergy, police, firefighters, residents, members of VFW Post 653 and many other city officials.

Organized by VFW Post 653 and hosted by the organization’s commander, Mike McGlinn, the ceremony was led in prayer by the Rev. Gilbert Burgess, pastor of the Community Baptist Church, and Brian Vanderheyden, graduate of New Canaan High School in 1965 and a former U.S. Marine Corporal and Vietnam War veteran.

Carlson said in his opening remarks, “I just wanted to thank you veterans and thank you to your fellow New Canaanites for joining us here at City Hall instead of on the hallowed grounds of Lakeview Cemetery. But we wanted to remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and our way of life.

In his speech, Brewster Shattan told three stories, starting with his own upbringing in Saigon and how his father fled Vietnam at the very end of the war on April 30, 1975, with U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin, “on this last helicopter off the embassy.” roof.”

“By doing this, they were able to help as many of our Vietnamese allies escape as possible,” Brewstern Shattan said. “He had sent me and my family home shortly before that fateful and historic day. You see, my father, Donald Charles Brewster, is buried right here in New Canaan at Lakeview Cemetery. He’s from Boston, he was in the US Foreign Service and he’s buried along an old horse path near the back gate. My mother was born in Hue, the ancient imperial city in central Vietnam. Now her father was a mandarin, just a civil magistrate, and he forbade her from marrying this American, this man who would become my father. Luckily for me, she didn’t always do what she was told.

Her mother, Linda Brewster, now resides in New Canaan and received a standing ovation from the congregation when her daughter introduced her.

“Linda’s family served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam,” she said. “His closest brother, my beloved uncle, was commander of an infantry and engineer company. He didn’t evacuate. He stayed with his company, was imprisoned in a re-education camp for three years, and would die trying to escape the communist regime. I am grateful to the United States for its alliance with the former Republic of Vietnam, as I am fortunate to be one of the 2.3 million Vietnamese Americans who reside in this land of freedom today . Twelve years after the fall of Saigon, I reported to West Point for basic cadet training.

Commissioned as a U.S. Army officer in the Adjutant General Corps, she served on active duty from 1991 to 1994 with the 381st PSC in Pirmasens and the 189th PSC in Kaiserslautern, both in Germany. She is qualified for airborne and air assault operations and led her battalion’s first team of Nijmegen Soldiers on the four-day (100-mile) international marches. Brewster Shattan continues to work with the Army on the U.S. Military Academy Admissions Field Force as the Connecticut State Coordinator and is a senior member of U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy’s nominating committee.

In her final account of the keynote speech, she honored seven New Canaan residents who died during the Vietnam War: Charles David Austin, Richard Oliver Bickford, David Moy Burke, Jr., Creighton Lynn Conner, Fred Andrew Lind, William Brewster Nickerson, and Howard Bruce Smith.

She called on those present to remember 1959-60.

“The city’s population is about half of its current population: 12,000 to 13,000 residents,” she said. “President Dwight D. Eisenhower is in charge. He was a former general, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. The space race is on. It’s the Cold War… The building where Saxe is currently located is the town’s high school.

Brewster Shattan described the New Canaanites of this era: for example, Creighton Conner of Oak Street goes to football practice.

“The team ties undefeated Staples High School and has its first successful year,” she said. “People know Creighton because he’s a four-sport athlete. They call him “the Duke”. They know him because he hit a home run at Mead Park. Now some of you may know Pop Conner Field on (Farm Road). It’s named after his grandfather.

Others of the seven play soccer, do theater, attend St. Mark’s and are involved in the community in other ways.

“It’s Memorial Day and the town is divided because of the war,” Brewster Shattan said. “Pop Conner said to Creighton: ‘Be an example to the rest of the kids: take part in the parade.’ ” What he does. That weekend in 1966 was the last time this family would see him alive. In a distant land, on the other side of the planet, these people answer the country’s call and serve with distinction. They wear the garment of the nation. And during this conflict, these seven people die.

Yet Brewster Shattan said, “They didn’t die for their country, and they didn’t die for each other.”

“These seven people from New Canaan lived for themselves,” she said, adding, “What is the purpose of Memorial Day? To honor them. To honor the dead. Why are we here today? Not because these men are dead. We are here today because they lived.