LEWISTON, Maine — The Lewiston & Auburn Veterans Council held its annual ceremony in Veterans Memorial Park Monday.
Despite last year's floods damaging the park, the council was able to hold its Veterans Day ceremony and unveiled the new 35th memorial name stone.
The memorial honors local veterans who served in various wars. It includes three veterans who served during World War I, 19 veterans who served World War II, six women veterans and three veterans from the Civil War.
The three Civil War veterans are Isaac Raymond, William Knowlton and Josiah Sturtevant.
Arnold Sturtevant, Josiah Sturtevant's great-grandson, who is also a Korean War veteran, was one of the many people who spoke at Monday's ceremony.
His great-grandfather's diaries, letters, and photographs were collected and memorialized in the book "Josiah Volunteered."
Arnold explained that the Sturtevant family features a long line of veterans.
He said in addition to great-grandpa Josiah's name, his name, as well as four other members of his family, were included and honored in this year's memorial name stone.
Reginald Sturtevant, Arnold's father; Andrew Sturtevant Sr., Arnold's great-great grandfather; Vaughn Sturtevant, Arnold's cousin; and Andrew Sturtevant Jr. were all included in the memorial new name stone.
Many people believe that being a veteran means being a person willing to sacrifice and willing to dedicate their life to protect others.
But for Arnold, it's deeper than that. He said that being a veteran means being one of the men that his great-grandmother would tell him stories about as a child.
When he was as young as 4 years old, Arnold said he would sit on his great-grandmother's lap as she sorted through his great-grandfather's memorabilia from the Civil War. She would read him excerpts from his great-grandfather's diary and answer any questions he had, Arnold said.
"And as I would pick these things up, she would explain them to me. This is what? This happened there. These are stones that he gathered. That he gathered where?" Arnold said, reenacting the way his conversations with his great-grandmother would go.
"And she would tell me. And the stories stuck with me, and more than anything, it was the love of the person who tells the story. Sometimes we tell stories today and they are lacking true love," Arnold said.
Just as Arnold passed those stories down to his son Andrew, he now passes them on to his grandson Josiah.
"I wanted to pass that on to my grandson and to all my family what it means to have an obligation to guard the country and to step up and serve as called," Arnold said.
Andrew, who is named after one of his grandfathers, did not serve in the military, but he said that his family always taught him what an honor it is to serve.
"We give our children roots, but we also give them wings. Through the past, we can learn," Andrew said. "I feel like I'm in the shadow of giants and those that came before us. I am humbled."