Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church at 15 Fellowship Drive hosted Woolwich’s 122rd annual Memorial Day Service of Remembrance honoring the men and women who lost their lives serving in America’s armed forces. 

The program got underway at 6 p.m. with past Woolwich Historical Society president Debbie Locke  and Selectman and State Rep. Allison Hepler giving the welcoming address. “Memorial Day which started following the American Civil War was set aside to remember our fallen soldiers who paid with their lives in service to our country,” said Hepler. Reverend Clay Porr, senior pastor of Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church, then led guests in a short prayer and time of reflection.  

Following a reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, Charles Durfee, representing Day's Ferry Congregational Church, went to the podium asking any veterans present to rise and introduce themselves. Durfee, a 50-year resident of Woolwich, is a U.S. Army veteran. He served a tour of duty in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 during the Indochina war. The most senior veteran present was Woolwich resident Robert Mead, who is both an Army and Marine veteran of the Korean War. “When my Army enlistment ran out in Korea, I re-enlisted in the Marines and went back to Korea,” he said. Rev. Tom Tuck of First Baptist Church of Woolwich provided the evening’s scripture reading from the Book of Isaiah. Tuck served in the Navy from 1983 to 2003. 

Woolwich resident Jon Anderson, Lt Col., U.S. Air Force, gave this year’s keynote address. He said as we remember the men and women in the armed services who have given their lives in service to our country, we need to also consider their families. “The fallen are gone, the loved ones live on,” he said. Anderson suggested sending them a kind note, or posting something of remembrance on social media. The singing of “America the Beautiful” followed Anderson’s address. 

In his benediction, Rev. Porr thanked the Lord for the precious gift of freedom, and the soldiers who shed their blood and gave their lives for our country so that we may enjoy these freedoms.