Roland Jutras: Meredith Memorial Day program was wonderful

To The Daily Sun,

Catherine McLaughlin’s recent Memorial Day Sun article capturing the stirring and heartfelt presentations of four Meredith Veterans was exceptional. So superb that God must have reached to his "top shelf" for the finest of ingredients to mold the likes of Paula Jones, Kari Dever Jackman, Bob Jones and Elliot Finn. All four experienced accounts of upheaval and human suffering that would have sent most of us scurrying back to civilian life. The imagery of what they all went through is riveting.

Featured speaker Paula Jones became a Naval nurse at 18 years of age. She recalled "locking" into the eyes of a young wounded soldier just days after he returned from Vietnam. What she saw in his eyes was his wonder of hope that he would live, banking on Jones during his most fearful and darkest hour.

Paula Jones’ story is a reminder that war is more than a military charge. Emotionally charged non-battlefield events can leave an imprint. A kind of scar that the mind keeps replaying that the heart can’t delete.

Noticeable at the Meredith Memorial Day celebration is that not once did any of these four Veterans flaunt any of their personal honors, certificates of achievement, innumerable accolades or any other kind of fanfare. What the audience heard, from their collective voices, was the importance of humility and that inevitable bonding that exists whenever men and women bravely face danger together in war.

I’ve lived in the Town of Meredith for nearly 15 years. Never have I met or knew of Paula Jones or Kari Dever Jackman. But this I do know: I’ll never ever forget them and the astounding military stories they shared while standing at the edge of Lake Winnipesaukee at Hesky Park on May 30.

Roland Jutras

Meredith