Yorktown to honor Memorial Day with multiple ceremonies

YORKTOWN, N.Y. — Yorktown will observe Memorial Day with several ceremonies on Monday, beginning at 9 a.m. with a remembrance at the Vietnam memorial behind Lakeland High School, on the east side of the building in Shrub Oak.

At 10 a.m., the Mohegan Lake Fire District will hold a ceremony at the World War II memorial, just past the John C. Hart Memorial Library.

At 11 a.m., a ceremony and rededication of the Korean War monument will take place at the Veterans Memorials Circle.

The annual Memorial Day parade will begin at 11:30 a.m., with the procession starting at Town Hall, continuing down Commerce Street, and ending at the Jack DeVito Veterans Memorial Track and Field.

Town Supervisor Ed Lachterman said Memorial Day is not just a time for Yorktown to remember, but for people everywhere to pause and acknowledge the day’s purpose.

“We're only here because of those who fought for our country, and Memorial Day recognizes those people,” Lachterman told Yorktown News. “It's a day of remembrance for those who gave their life, followed by celebration of the life they sacrificed to give us.”

He added that on Memorial Day, the flag is lowered “to half-staff until noon, and then you raise it — so it's remembering, and then celebrating. I think it's just so important, because if we forget who sacrificed for our country, we're not a country anymore.”