LEWISTON, Maine — Richard Rodrigue stood behind the caution tape as he watched a dozen volunteers lift memorial stones and excavate dirt that helped support monuments dedicated to Vietnam and World War Veterans in Lewiston on Friday morning.
A flood from the Androscoggin River earlier in the week devastated Maine's twin cities and damaged the Veterans Memorial Park that sits right under the falls.
"It's cold. It's 20 degrees outside, but they are ripping and tearing it up and bringing it back," Rodrigue said. "It makes me feel proud," he added.
Not only was he happy to see people cleaning up the park so quickly, but he said he knew his father's name was still etched in the stone, formerly submerged under water.
Volunteers, many from the L&A Veterans Council and Honor Flight Maine, spent hours Friday morning working to clean the site.
"When it started to flood, I said 'oh shoot,' among many other adjectives," Jerry Dewitt, from the L&A Veterans Council, said. "I was depressed."
As Dewitt walked us from the benches he and others pulled from the water, he showed us some of the heavy damage done to the foundations of a World War II Jeep and a cannon.
"The dirt washed away underneath it. It weighs so much it wasn't going anywhere, but they just tipped over," Dewitt said.
Charlie Paul, also with the council, said he was blown away by the quick support to clean things up.
"Two days ago, when I came down, I had tears in my eyes...it was just mind-boggling," Paul said. "To me, this is symbolic of Lewiston. We are resilient, and we will come back."
The total financial damage to the park is still undetermined, as water levels have not yet returned to normal.
Crews finished retrieving what they could Friday, but restoration of the park could take months.