Latest news with #Veteransof
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Veterans remembered across Ashtabula County
Memorial Day takes on a different feel, from family to family and community to community. Residents from across Ashtabula County gathered Monday for barbecues and family gatherings to celebrate the unofficial start to summer. Memorial Day services throughout the area, however, had a different emphasis regarding the importance of the day. Many townships and villages throughout the county hosted community remembrances in cemeteries, while others had parades showing off the local high school band. The common theme was for people to remember the lives lost as men and women fought for our freedoms around the world. Rock Creek hosted a remembrance that included a parade down Route 45, a memorial wreath tossed into Rock Creek and a full ceremony at Union Cemetery. Many people gathered in downtown Rock Creek, while others walked alongside the parade to the ceremony. Jim Prentice, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, tossed a wreath into Rock Creek in memory of Navy veterans who perished serving their country. Rock Creek Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #4953 Commander John Dyrcz led a ceremony at the cemetery where more than 150 people gathered. The Jefferson Area High School Band participated in the parade, and played the National Anthem at the cemetery. 'I really do appreciate you people taking the time to come out and participate,' Dyrcz said before handing the program over to Ashtabula County Commissioner Casey Kozlowski. Kozlowski said many people see Memorial Day as the start of the summer and a chance to have fun with family and friends, but there is a more important, deeper meaning. Kozlowski reminded people of the importance of remembering the sacrifices of the men and women who went before. 'We may live in a rural corner of Ohio, but we understand patriotism,' he said. He mentioned the unique gift D-Day Conneaut gives to thousands of people from many states every August. 'It is a very real reminder of the costs of war,' Kozlowski said. Up the road at Saybrook Cemetery, Ohio National Guard Chaplain Major Sean Hampton shared his military experiences and urged those in attendance to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. 'I have served in one capacity or another since October of 1993,' Hampton said. He said he jokes with new soldiers about his reference point compared to theirs. 'I tell them I was shot at before they were even born,' he said with a laugh. Hampton served in two deployments to Iraq as a medic in 2005 and 2010, and again in 2023 as a chaplain. Hampton said he has been with soldiers that were struggling to find courage in battle and with families who have lost loved ones during his career. He said those still enjoying freedoms earned by veterans should 'earn' their honor by living their lives in ways that would make people who did not survive their military service proud. 'As you enjoy your day off take some time in silence and earn that [honor],' he said. Saybrook Township Trustee Dan Claypool spoke after Hampton, and urged those in attendance to focus on sacrifices made by veterans. 'Memorial Day is a solemn occasion to remember those who laid down their lives,' he said. Geneva remembered veterans during a ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery, which included numerous veterans organizations, Cub Scouts, the Geneva High School band and dozens of people. 'In memory of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, we place this wreath in their honor,' said Gina Diaddario Chismar, of the Blue Star Mothers. Geneva Citizen of the Year Joe Ortiz also spoke at the service. 'Geneva has lost many sons and daughters,' he said. 'The sacrifice made by these fallen heroes lives on.' In Conneaut, families lined up on chairs or blankets along Broad and Main streets as the city's parade assembled at the Conneaut American Legion. Brad Ward said his family came to the parade so the children could enjoy getting candy, and the parents could enjoy the cars and the veterans. As the veterans boarded a float, the Conneaut High School Band lined up along the street and police got ready to escort the parade to the city's war memorial for a wreath laying before moving on to the cemetery for a ceremony. More than 60 people attended a ceremony at the Ashtabula War Memorial, where Len Jury, honor guard commander of the Ashtabula American Legion Post, shared a speech regarding Memorial Day. He said a new flag pole will be installed at the memorial to fly a medal of honor flag. He announced Civil War veterans Louis Shepard and Isaac Jones, both from Ashtabula, would be honored at the memorial for their service. Jury also gave brief synopsis of the many different places American soldiers have fought around the world. Many small ceremonies took place in township cemeteries throughout the county, with some veterans groups assisting at many different events throughout the day.
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
I was in the Oxford boat that fought back against Cambridge domination
As I slumped over the oars at the end of the 1994 Women's Boat Race, desperate in defeat, I would not have believed I'd ever race against Cambridge again. Still less that it would be on the Tideway in London – and we'd be leading them in the tally of victories by 2.5 to 1.5. Yet Saturday marked my fourth appearance for Oxford in the Women's Veterans' Boat Race. We race, like the Men's Veterans, from Putney to Furnivall Steps, just past Hammersmith Bridge, a distance of just under 3k. Veteran is an outmoded description for rowers of a certain age, who are now 'Masters'. But it is so called because we are all Veterans of the Boat Race, Reserve, or Lightweight Races. Eligibility is not quite so hotly debated as it is with our younger counterparts – the age limit is 33 and over, while the boat average must be 42 or above – but make no mistake: we want to win just as much. The tally for the Women's Veterans' Race was, before Saturday, poised intriguingly at one all and one extraordinary dead heat. Last year, we crossed the finish line just one foot ahead, Cambridge coming through at the end, while we held on despite burning lungs and tired legs. But due to a barney between the men a few years prior, the rules state Veterans have to win by a margin of more than 6ft, due to us not having stake boats at the start. A moral victory, the umpire told us. We got the Chapeldown, and having won the previous year, Cambridge retained the Senior Trophy, while both university names were etched on it. I think both crews were proud of making history in a brutal but powerful display of midlife athleticism – but we still felt we had something to prove this year. More of a grudge match, if you like. Cambridge's 2025 line up was boosted by the reappearance of Olympian bronze medallist (and Chief Umpire of the Boat Race) Sarah Winckless, who missed last year's race, and the returning Olympic silver medallist Cath Bishop. There's no age limit for coxes – and Cambridge brought in Jasper Parish, he of the race-winning dramatic dash for calmer waters in the 2023 Men's Boat Race. Meanwhile, Oxford made three changes to last year's crew, with Kiwi Sarah Payne Riches from Osiris 2018, and Americans Emily Reynolds and Katie Davidson from 2015's victorious Oxford Blue Boat and Osiris crews. That was the first year the Women's Boat Race moved from Henley to the Tideway – something we campaigned for over many years. We won the toss and chose the Surrey station. Having led on the Middlesex station last year, and watched Cambridge come up on our inside as the bend worked in their favour, there's no doubt in my mind Surrey is the better side. Crews on Middlesex must have clear water by Hammersmith Bridge. This year was the most nervous I'd felt. Rowing is a sport where disaster can strike at any moment – a crab [of tangled oars], a rogue wave – and the what ifs had been rolling around my brain in the days before the race. At 53 and 364 days old, should I really be back sitting in the stroke seat, with my opposite number two decades younger than me? I felt physically sick in the seconds before the start. We knew Cambridge, having lost the toss, would front load their race and try to edge us out in the early stages. Our boat was powerful, but with no real form book it was hard to say who were the favourites. It still feels surreal to me to be there on the start, looking up at Putney Bridge: this view denied to us in the 90s. Now we are truly part of the fold. We train from OUBC in Wallingford, and, like all other Oxford crews, we now have our own yellow Empacher boat. Women's Head Coach Allan French has welcomed us in, and we wanted to repay the trust placed in us with a victory. And that was what we got. Our plan, frankly, is always to go hard off the start. We went off around 43 strokes a minute, settling to 37, and just a few strokes in our cox called, 'You're already up, Oxford!' After a rhythm call to take us down to 34, we settled in, possibly slightly over-rating our opposition, and taking seats off them every single stroke. The noise is at its most intense in that first part of the race, as crowds line the Putney Embankment, and we fed off it – perhaps achieving clear water by Fulham Football Club. When you are already up and know you have the psychological advantage of the bend coming up in your favour, racing feels truly glorious. It is significantly less painful even though we stayed true to our race plan, putting our pushes in, as no victory is secure until you cross the finish line. That is psychology and adrenaline for you, because the physical effort is intense. A side by side race of nearly 3K is hard for anyone, young or old. Yet I felt 25 when I got out of the boat, exhausted but elated – we do this because it makes us feel young again. And also because racing against Cambridge is an obsession that never dies. I still dream about that 1994 Boat Race loss, and each victory now assuages that pain. If you think controversy can't erupt in the same way with the Veterans, then think again: yesterday, Oxford Men's Veterans crossed the line 1/3rd of a length ahead, but were disqualified for a blade clash halfway through the race. In a slightly unorthodox decision, Umpire Caroline Lytton gave Cambridge the option to vote on a verdict of a DQ or a dead heat. Naturally they chose the former, and lifted the trophy. But there is still joy on behalf of all the Veterans to be taking part in a Boat Race again, and to be afforded the privilege to do so. I asked Emily and Katie what taking part in the Veteran's Race a decade on meant to them. 'Ten years ago, the women coming to race on the Tideway was such a big thing,' they said. 'Now it's just normal for women to be rowing on the same day as the men. And that's how it should be.' I caught up with Sarah afterwards to ask her view of the race. 'It's great that the Veterans are so competitive,' she said, with all the grace and diplomacy of a Chief Umpire – and indeed, we won in a record time: eight mins and 11 seconds, to Cambridge's eight mins 25 seconds, with a verdict of four lengths. At Putney Bridge tube on the way home, with more Chapeldown drunk and a very satisfied smile on my face, I bumped into Paddy Ryan, the Cambridge Women's Chief Coach. 'How's it looking for tomorrow?' I said. 'You're not going to like it,' he replied. No, I don't like it: every dark blue is willing there to be a reversal in Oxford's fortunes. It will come, even if it didn't happen this year. But in 2023, rumour has it Cambridge hung a broom outside their boat house to signify a clean sweep when every single Oxford crew lost, including the Veterans. I'm proud to have prevented them from doing that this year.
