Where Is The Respect For The Veterans?

To the Editor:

We attend numerous parades throughout the year within Fairfield and New Haven counties, and have never seen such a lackadaisical and unappreciative attitude towards our veterans, as the one we saw at the recent Newtown Labor Day Parade.  As the line of Armed Services vehicles and soldiers approached our vantage point, our group, which included us (two women in our mid-thirties) and three school-aged children, proudly stood to honor and applaud, not only those soldiers that marched, but in memory of those that have fought and died for our freedoms.

We were disgusted and dumbfounded when we were asked by the woman seated behind us to sit down because she could not see. We were equally appalled when we noticed from our position near the corner of Main and Glover Streets, that the majority of parade-goers who lined Main Street remained seated. As ones who had not experienced our country at war first hand until the Gulf War, we were each still taught by our parents to show respect for those that serve and protect us. What a travesty it is to see our generation’s complacency and ignorance to not value our United States Veterans’ determination, sacrifices, and courage.

We have to wonder if the citizens of Newtown, who are in the midst of celebrating the town’s tercentennial, realize that this commemorative celebration would not have been but for the brave men and women who fought during the Revolutionary War, a scant seventy years after Newtown received its charter. Their selflessness, along with that of those soldiers that followed through the years, should be respected and revered. You do not have to support war to support those who have chosen to protect us in the past, and those that protect us today.

Ann Lindberg &

Holly Lockwood, Seymour

Chatfield Street, Shelton &

Windsor Road, Seymour                                         September 7, 2005