The Town of Fallsburg held its Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, November 8 at Morningside Park in Hurleyville as many veterans from the area and their families came together to celebrate. Retiring Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther and Assemblywoman-elect Paula Kay were also in attendance to celebrate the veterans. 

Master of Ceremonies was Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) Joseph Collura, a retired veteran of the United States Navy. United States Air Force Veteran and County Coroner Albee Bockman sang the National Anthem. 

Arnold Seletsky of the Town of Fallsburg Parks Department gave some opening remarks following the invocation by Father Ignatius Dhas. 

Seletsky said some words on behalf of Tracy Karson of Hurleyville, the mother of Army Private First Class Douglas Cordo, who died in battle in Afghanistan at the age of 20 on August 19, 2011.

“She’s our Gold Star mom and she was proud of her son, a young man gone too soon,” Seletsky said. “He wasn’t even supposed to go out that day, but he took over for a friend as that’s what our soldiers do, and unfortunately, he died a hero. All our veterans are heroes, the sacrifices from family and jobs. Veterans are a special breed. It doesn’t have to be a soldier, whatever they did, they did for us. And I know we are all thankful for that.”

SCPO Collura called up all the Veterans to stand beside him and pose for photos. Following his speech, each Veteran read a portion a piece of the POW/MIA table presentation. 

“Our military should not be mistaken for a cable news gabfest show,” Collura said. “We don’t care what you look like. We don’t care who you voted for, who you worship, what you worship or who  you love. It doesn’t matter if your dad left you millions or if you knew who your father was. "

“We have been honed into this machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you know what’s good for you,” continued Collura. “We will not be intimidated. We will not back down. We have seen war, we don’t want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there is one thing I can promise you, so help me God, someone else will raise your sons and daughters.”