Taps sounded throughout the region as many took time in the three-day holiday weekend to pay homage to soldiers who gave their lives while fighting for the U.S. military.

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Tupper Lake

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Saranac Lake VFW Post 3357 Commander Joseph Fisher leads the Memorial Day ceremony in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

Shane Holmes, of Long Lake, used his Memorial Day speech in Tupper Lake to talk about three of his heroes — three men he thinks about at this time every year.

Holmes, a combat veteran who served in the Marine Corps and Army National Guard, including one tour in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, said Memorial Day is known to many as a long weekend with cookouts and gatherings. But for him and the many people like him who have lost loved ones to war, Memorial Day holds a “profound, deeply meaningful significance.”

It’s a time to pause the daily routine to pay tribute, he said.

He got emotional as he remembered a few of the soldiers he was closest to who died in the line of duty.

The first was his cousin, Marine Lance Corporal Nicholas Sovie. Sovie died in the Horn of Africa on Feb. 17, 2006 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Brandon Cooke, part of the Tupper Lake Honor Guard, stands during the playing of taps at a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“His dedication and sacrifice serve as a heartful reminder of the price of freedom,” Holmes said.

The second was Maj. Michael S. Evarts, a college roommate, ROTC peer and close friend of Holmes’. He died in Tikrit Iraq on Jan. 17, 2011 during Operation New Dawn.

“His leadership, his courage, his unwavering commitment to this country are qualities I always hold dear,” Holmes said.

The last was Army Sgt. Michael Uvanni, with whom Holmes shared a “unique bond” as they trained and deployed to Iraq. The two shared a path of being former Marines who joined the Army National Guard to volunteer to fight in Iraq. Uvanni died in Samarra, Iraq, on Oct. 1, 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“His selflessness and bravery continue to inspire me,” Holmes said.

Saranac Lake resident Shirley Hosler raises her hand to her heart as the Saranac Lake High School band performs the National Anthem in Riverside Park Monday. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

He feels that he owes it to each one of them to remember their stories and keep their memories alive. He felt honored to do so on Monday.

“These are not just names on some memorial wall, nor faces in photographs,” Holmes said. “They are my brothers, they are my friends and they are heroes.”

Holmes shared a tearful hug with family while the packed high school auditorium gave his speech a standing ovation.

It was a tough speech to give, he said later. It was hard to speak about his fallen family and friends without crying through the speech, he said, so he focused on their memories.

Though he only gave brief descriptions of who they were, he said they each had dreams, hopes and families.

Shane Holmes, a combat veteran, speaks about the soldiers who have died who he remembers at the Tupper Lake Memorial Day ceremony on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“As much as I wanted to talk forever about them, it would have been tough for me — as you can tell, just mentioning their names was very emotional for me,” Holmes said.

He knew a lot more people who died overseas who he was also thinking about, but he wanted to focus on these three because they each had an impact on his life today.

Holmes is the event and education coordinator for Homeward Bound, organizing nature retreats with veterans twice a month, where they take to the woods and talk around the campfire about their shared trauma and afflictions.

It is important work to him. Holmes said he suffers from PTSD and that talking with people with the same trauma is therapeutic.

“I get more out of helping other veterans than any type of medication or therapy that I’ve ever done in the past,” he said. “It’s a reciprocal thing.”

Sean and Mollie Fitzgerald lay a wreath outside of American Legion Post 326 in Lake Placid on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

In the five years he’s been doing this, he’s only missed one retreat.

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Saranac Lake

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Saranac Lake’s windy Memorial Day festivities kicked off with the annual parade down Broadway and Main Street, featuring local veterans and veterans organizations, firefighters, the Saranac Lake High School band, Saranac Lake village Mayor Jimmy Williams, the Saranac Lake Youth Baseball and Softball Association and an escort by Saranac Lake police.

The parade ended at Riverside Park, where Saranac Lake VFW Post 3357 Commander and American Legion member Joseph Fisher led the Memorial Day ceremony.

The ceremony included a rendition of the National Anthem by the Saranac Lake High School band, led by Keith Kogut; a benediction by VFW Post 3357 Chaplain Jimmy Law; a wreath-laying by Nancy Hurteau of the American Legion Post 447 Auxiliary and Cheri Fisher of the VFW Auxiliary of Post 3357; and the playing of taps. After the ceremony, there was a barbecue at the Veteran’s Club.

Fisher, a Bloomingdale resident, veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and retired New York Army National Guard sergeant major, spoke about the history behind Memorial Day and the sacrifice made by service members.

“We have joined together this Memorial Day for the opportunity to celebrate and honor the men and women of our military who died while protecting our nation,” Fisher told the crowd of roughly 200 people. “As we take this day to give thanks to them and quietly contemplate their ultimate sacrifice, we realize how markedly inadequate our attempt to pay tribute to them really is. There are no words that can properly reflect the magnitude of what their sacrifices meant to our nation and the amount of love, respect and honor that we hold deep in our hearts for them.

“Our intent today is not to speak on the glory of battle, or pay homage to heroes or icons, but rather to reflect on the person behind the deed and remember all of our fallen comrades for who they actually were — people just like us,” he added. “They were fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters and friends, all of whom held true to the values upon which this great land was founded and shared a common belief in freedom, justice and liberty.”

Fisher said it is everyone’s duty to keep their memories alive and to reflect on the lives left behind.

“The next door neighbors and the kids who lived just down the block,” Fisher said. “They were the high school quarterbacks, the cheerleaders, the class clowns. Some of them were teachers, police, firefighters, plumbers and physicians. They were of every race, creed and color. They came from every corner of our great nation, and from other countries, as well. Together, they defended, protected and advanced the cause of freedom.”

Fisher noted that the men and women being honored on Memorial Day “did not choose the events of the world and the circumstances into which they were thrust.”

“The circumstances and the events of the world chose them,” he said. “It is a fact of life that freedom is not free. Throughout our nation’s history, there have been heavy costs involved in preserving our way of life. As a nation, we have shouldered the cost.”

Fisher implored the crowd to ensure that the legacy of fallen soldiers is passed on to younger generations.

“Let us leave here today knowing that our destiny as a free people is entirely up to us,” he said.

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Lake Placid

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Despite sporadic rain showers and strong winds, a small crowd gathered outside American Legion Post 326 in Lake Placid on Monday morning for a Memorial Day ceremony. Following a parade down Main Street that featured veterans, first responders, local Girl Scout troops and the Lake Placid Middle/High School marching band, American Legion members lowered three flags that have flown since Veterans Day in memory of local veterans who have died and raised three new flags in other veterans’ memories.

Flags honoring William “Bill” Kelly, James Staats and Betty Jean Trantham were lowered.

Kelly died in June 2023 at 95 years old. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1945 and served with the Army Corps of Engineers, where he was stationed in Austria, until 1948. He was recalled to serve in the Korean War a few years later and was discharged after 10 months. His flag was accepted by friend Richard Smith, who is also a veteran.

Staats died in 2023 at 54 years old. He was born in 1968 in Lake Placid and served in the U.S. Navy for 27 years, retiring as a Gunner’s Mate, first class. His flag was accepted by his sisters, Lori Staats Martin and Lisa Staats Lawyer.

Trantham died in January 2023 at 72 years old. She was born in Lake Placid in 1950 and at the time of her death was a mother of two, grandmother of four and great-grandmother of 11. Her flag was accepted by her son, Harold Trantham.

Lake Placid High School junior Aidan Fay played taps after all the flags were lowered. American Legion members Stuart Spotts and Bob Marvin then raised flags honoring Robert Peacock, Douglas Bissonette and Alfred Von Dell. The flags will fly outside the American Legion until Veterans Day.

Peacock died in November 2023 at 79 years old. He was born in Lake Placid in 1944, excelled at sports in high school and, following graduation, served in the Army, stationed in Korea. He enjoyed playing golf, driving his old car and going to garage sales — even meeting his wife, MarieLine Desilets, at a flea market in 2003. He’s survived by an extended family of siblings, nieces and nephews and in-laws.

Bissonette died in March 2016 at 73 years old. Born in Malone in 1942, Bissonette served in the Army from 1964 to 1970 and later worked as a state Department of Environmental Conservation forest ranger. He married Debbie Cobane in 1967 and they raised four sons together.

Von Dell died in 1997 at age 87. He married Phyllis Salem in 1931 and they raised seven children together in Lake Placid.

Sean and Mollie Fitzgerald then laid a wreath at the American Legion’s memorial, and the Lake Placid Middle/High School marching band played The Star-Spangled Banner.

Earlier in the day, American Legion members began Memorial Day by lowering a flag honoring Roland White and raising a flag honoring Robert Fadden at the Adirondack Community Church.

White died in August at 90 years old. He was born in 1933 in Lake Placid and served during the Korean War. Fadden died in May 2011 and served in the Army during World War II. He married Dorris Fadden in 1943 and was a father of two, grandfather of three and great-grandfather of one at the time of his death.

American Legion members then proceeded to Elderwood of Uihlein, where they lowered a flag honoring Henry “Hank” Trombley and raised a flag honoring Dennis Smythe.

Trombley died in June 2021 at 89 years old. He was born in Plattsburgh in 1932 and served in the Air Force during the Korean War as a surgical medic. Smythe died in December 2013 at 62 years old. He was born in Lake Placid in 1951 and graduated from Lake Placid High School in 1969. He enlisted in the Army in 1971 and served for five years, then returned to Lake Placid, where he worked for village police. Smythe loved sports and fishing.

American Legion members then moved to the Lake Placid Health and Medical Fitness Center to lower a flag honoring John Peters and raise a flag honoring Clifford “Kip” Wells.

Peters was a veteran of the Army. A transplant to Lake Placid, he loved to spend time at the ski jumps and volunteer around town. Wells died in December 2020 at 87 years old. He was born in Saranac Lake in 1933 and served in the Army in Germany and as an MP during the Korean War. After his discharge from the Army, he worked as a chef at Placid Memorial Hospital and the Lake Placid Olympic and Paralympic Training Center. Wells married Greta Maynard in 1956 in Lake Placid and was a father of one, grandfather of three and great-grandfather of eight at the time of his death.

Lake Placid High School student Aidan Fay plays taps at a Memorial Day ceremony in Lake Placid on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

Richard Smith, left, shakes hands with Stuart Spotts after accepting a flag flown in memory of Smith’s friend, Bill Kelly, during a Memorial Day ceremony in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

Nancy Hurteau and Cheri Fisher pause after laying a wreath at Riverside Park in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

Chaplain Jimmy Law leads a prayer in Riverside Park, Saranac Lake, during Monday's Memorial Day ceremony. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

Sean Wood plays the tenor sax with the Tupper Lake High School band at a Memorial Day ceremony in Tupper Lake on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Players with the Saranac Lake Youth Baseball and Softball League march on Main Street in Saranac Lake’s Memorial Day parade. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

The Saranac Lake High School band, led by Keith Kogut, performs the National Anthem at Riverside Park Monday. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

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