Norfolk veterans were honored in two moving ceremonies Monday as Botelle School students welcomed the town’s service men and women to their annual Veterans Day program in the morning, and the World War I memorial was rededicated in the afternoon.
The morning program featured patriotic music by the different grade levels, a slideshow about the history and traditions of Veterans Day, and a setting of the White Table honoring missing, fallen or captive service members.
The veterans, who spanned the decades from World War II through to today, were asked to introduce themselves and briefly describe their service experiences. Following the program, they were invited to a luncheon prepared by the PTO.
Then, as dusk gathered in late afternoon, townspeople assembled for the official lighting of the World War I memorial at the intersection of Routes 272 North and 44. The 103-year-old monument has had a multi-year restoration sponsored by the Norfolk Community Association, including installation of a state-of-the-art lighting system that adheres to DarkSky standards.
The memorial was designed by renowned architect Alfredo Taylor and the bell was donated to the town by Mary Eldridge. It was first rung November 11, 1921, in memory of the eight men from Norfolk who died in the war: Paul Bouchet, Walter Caul, Thomas Costello, Jeremiah Leahy, Wilbur LeFeber, Harry Mansfield, James Moore and Joseph Roberts.
Town Historian Richard Byrne told the gathering that 80 names are inscribed on the bronze plaques embedded in the monument—79 men and one woman from Norfolk who served in the First World War.
Attending the ceremony was a special guest, Theodore Marolda, 101, a Winsted veteran of World War II who saw some of the most severe fighting in the South Pacific. He recalled that he was 18 when he heard about Pearl Harbor on the radio of his 1936 pickup truck. Like so many others, he immediately enlisted and, a few months later, was a Marine on his way to Guadalcanal.
Marolda remembered the attack on Guadalcanal as severe. “We didn’t change our uniforms for three months,” he recalled, and the food was foul. “When we left, we wrote a poem on wood at the burial site of our fallen comrades: ‘We served our country well. We served our time in Hell.’”
The ceremony ended with Sarah and John Allyn playing Taps.