Fairfield Residents Remember The True Meaning Of Veterans Day

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- On the 11th hour of the 11th day, of the 11th month, 100 years after the start of the Great War, Fairfield and its citizens look a little different. People speak differently and dress differently and are consumed by different duties and stresses in their everyday lives.

Diana Palmentiero and with her kids Cody and April celebrate Veterans Day at the town ceremony, Tues day, Nov. 11.
Photo Credit: *Salvatore Trifilio*

Members of Fairfield's oldest Boy Scout Troop (10) help set up at the Wall of Honor for Tuesday's ceremony. It is the fourth time in as many years that the 102-year-old troop has helped the town celebrate the day.
Photo Credit: *Salvatore Trifilio*

Parents made it to the Wall of Honor early Tuesday, to show their children the names of relatives who have served in foreign wars.
Photo Credit: *Salvatore Trifilio*

Sonia Wincott and her son, Colin, took a moment out of their day to tell the Daily Voice what Veterans Day means to them.
Photo Credit: *Salvatore Trifilio*

by Salvatore Trifilio

11/11/2014 1:00 p.m.

However, 100 years after World War I, the one constant that has remained is the remembrance of those who have served, and are serving, in the armed forces that protect the country everyday.

“Veterans Day is about thinking of the people who fought for our freedom and giving thanks to them,” Sonia Wincott, a Fairfield resident, said as she walked past Sherman Green on Post Road on Tuesday.

On the way to the orthodontist with her 9-year-old son, Colin Wincott, a sense of urgency filled the air; this detour could make them late.

But in the craziness that fills a daily schedule, the elementary school student whose grandfather was a paratrooper in World War II, had the day off to remember, and did just that.

“Today means thinking about the people in the Army who fought during World War II and died,” Colin Wincott said.

And while some parents celebrated the holiday in their own ways, others took to the opportunity to make it down to Fairfield’s Wall of Honor on Old Post Road for the town's Veterans Day Ceremony.

Vivian Duncan, whose father served in Vietnam and grandfather served in World War II, brought her children to the ceremony to teach them the importance of the day.

As the child and grandchild of two veterans, today is particularly special for Duncan, who said she is proud of her family.

“It makes me happy that they could make some sort of difference,” Duncan said. “I appreciate their service.”

Duncan was just one of many at Tuesday’s ceremony, joining Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, veterans, police officers, firefighters and passersby.

Also in the crowd of about 50 Fairfield residents was Ruta Leonard, a first generation American and committee chair of Fairfield’s 102-year-old Boy Scout Troop 10.

Her parents moved to the United States after World War II from Lithuania, giving Leonard a different perspective of the freedom that Americans celebrate on Veterans Day.

“It’s a whole different history for us,” Leonard said. “Being a part of all this is a big honor.

“The importance of Veterans Day is something we all try to instill in our children.”

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