'We have all different heroes, but the real heroes are our soldiers who gave their all'

Rochester Legion Post 7 Chaplain Mark Hudson directs a wreath-laying ceremony for all branches of the U.S. Military during Memorial Day Ceremony at the Rochester Common on Monday. (Rochester Voice photos)

ROCHESTER - The backdrop of this year's Memorial Day Parade was the weather, a raw morning of pouring rain that dried up right around the start of the Memorial Day Services at the Rochester Common and turned into as beautiful an afternoon as one will ever see just moments after the ceremony ended.
Rochester American Legion Chaplain Mark Hudson officiated the solemn ceremony and exhorted the crowd of several hundred to remember the ultimate price so many of our military heroes have paid over the centuries.

Spaulding High School students perform their Flag Corps routine while the Spaulding High School band performed a medley of military anthems.

"We have all different heroes we look up to, like sports heroes, but the real heroes are our soldiers who gave their all," he said. "Politicians do not protect America; soldiers do. And there are others like police officers and firefighters."
Hudson reflected that our military men who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms should inspire us to remember them with gratitude.
"The fallen soldiers we honor today believed that we were a nation worth dying for," he said.
Also speaking during the ceremony was

Cole Robertson, a seventh-graders at Rochester Middle School, plays the bagpipes during the Memorial Day ceremony at the Common.

Rochester Mayor Chuck Grassie, who said we should all be thinking today about our military men who fought and died, who gave their lives to protect our very way of life.
He noted that beyond those who made the ultimate sacrifice, many came back badly wounded, some physically, some emotionally.
"I have a friend who went over to Vietnam. He didn't die, but he came back very differently, he said. "He'd worked in hospitals and held soldiers in his arms as they died. When he came back he was very different. Soldiers who had to suffer through times like these, they didn't give their lives, but they gave their spirit and their soul."
Leading the parade was parade Grand Marshal Robert "Cider" Berry, who is a Navy veteran who has been actively involved in the community for many years through various boards and community groups. He has received awards such as the Rochester Sports Hall of Fame Chairman's Award and was named Rochester Citizen of the Year in 2005.
The parade and ceremony were organized by the Rochester Veterans Council.
The Memorial Day weekend Flags of Honor display concluded on Monday at 7 p.m. with the playing of echo taps and a bagpiper performing on the Common.