Veterans, families of fallen soldiers recognized
9/23/09 | 3 comments

Veterans, families of fallen soldiers recognized


By Diana Bowley
BDN Staff

ASHLAND, Maine — For some, their service to their country was years ago, but they have not been forgotten.

Peter W. Ogden, director of Maine Veterans’ Services, makes sure of that. Ogden travels throughout the state to recognize the service of Maine’s veterans and the families of those who died in combat.

On Saturday, Ogden was in Madawaska and on Sunday he was in Ashland to present State of Maine Gold and Silver Star Honorable Service Medals to families of servicemen and women who died in support of combat from WWII to present and to those servicemen and women who received Purple Hearts or were prisoners of war.

“This is just done in the state of Maine,” Ogden said this week of the recognition. The idea was his and it received the support of the Legislature a few years ago and the funding from the governor, he said.

“What it really does for the state from my perspective is, it let’s the family know that we have not forgotten their loss and their loved one,” Ogden said.

Some 30 individuals were recognized in Madawaska:

State of Maine Gold Star Honorable Service Medal for those who died in support of combat operations: Tech. Sgt. Kenneth J. Bossie; Cpl. Richard T. Corriveau; Cpl. Joseph D. Gagnon; Sgt. Benton Michaud, all of Fort Kent.

The State of Maine Silver Star Honorable Service Medal for prisoners of war: Pfc. Conrad Gagnon; Pvt. Louis J. Plourde; Pfc. Randolph Thibodeau, all of Fort Kent.

State of Maine Silver Star Honorable Service Medal for the Purple Heart was given to Staff Sgt. Robert Bilodeau of Madawaska, Spc. James E. Dechaine of Madawaska; Staff Sgt. Valier R. Jandreau of St. Francis; Spc. Oscar A. Ouellette of St. Francis; Pfc. Rodolph P. Pelletier of St. Francis; Cpl. Patrick Franck of Madawaska; Cpl. Leo J. Martin of Frenchville; Cpl. Louis G. Roy of Frenchville; Pfc. Morris D. Walker of St. Francis; Sgt. Larry P. Cormier of Grand Isle; Staff Sgt. James C. Foreman of Fort Kent; Spc. Philip Martin of Madawaska; Spc. Joseph E.G. Michaud of St. Francis; and Col. Philip L. Michaud of St. Agatha.

Those recognized in Ashland with the gold star were: Spc. Richard Berube of Presque Isle; Pfc. Robert E. Goding of Ashland; Staff Sgt. Emery N. Poitrow of Ashland; 1st Sgt. James C. Skinner of Ashland; and Staff Sgt. Raymond Grass of Oxbow.

The silver star for the Purple Heart was for Cpl. Preston D. Holmes of Portage; Cpl. Daryl R. Gordon of Eagle Lake; and Spc. Dana E. Lyons and Staff Sgt. Donald E. Flewelling, both of Masardis.

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3 comments on this item
On 9/23/09 at 6:29 AM, LilMikey wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Recognition is a wonderful thing but why doesn't Maine do something constructive for their Veterans and Disabled Vets? The tax benefit for home owners is a joke. Many other states show their appreciation by having a decent tax credit for Disabled Vets. For the amount of Vets involved it is a drop in the bucket to the towns and state.

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On 9/23/09 at 7:37 AM, labsX3 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

LilMikey . . EXCELLENT point ! There are at least two States that exempt any Veteran that is 100% Disabled from property taxes. Just try brining this subject up with any of our State Legislators and they suddenly take an interest in looking at their shoes. Being a disabled Vet myself, I have tried to garner information re: the number of 100% Vets that are residents of Maine and was told that in order to get that number, I would have to pay a VA programmer to write a program that would make that kind of information available. Nice. Put the onus BACK ON THE VETERAN. UGH! :-(

The financial impact of giving 100% disabled Vets a property tax exemption would not hit just one or two towns or cities as disabled Vets live from one end of Maine to the other end!

There are times in life when it is imperative to just DO THE RIGHT THING! Our "leaders" in Augusta have been woefully M.I.A. regarding property tax exemption for those that gave so much.

"All Gave Some . . .Some Gave All"!

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On 9/23/09 at 6:44 PM, LilMikey wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Markrc...yep, these people all are full of praise (now they are anyway) but when it comes to stepping up to the plate when it comes to doing anything that will help monetary wise, they go the other way.

From the VA website as of 6/30/09: 100% 273,300

I.U. 100% 256,879

Now that is nationwide so I am sure Maine does not have a great many Vets at 100% out of that number. I believe the total number of Vets in Maine is about 154,000. That is Veterans, not Disabled Vets.

Always liked this statement:

"A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve -

is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made

payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and

including my life.'" (Author unknown)

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