Memorial Day ceremonies in the Hudson Valley returned this year after the pandemic
forced the events to be canceled in 2020.
Dozens of parades happened throughout the region
including in Haverstraw, New Rochelle, Yorktown Heights, Piermont, Pearl River
and Suffern.
The village of Hillburn's parade stepped off
early Monday, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony and gun salute.
Residents lined the
streets with bands playing. The event looked a lot different this year compared
to last year's small events, when only 10 people were allowed, because of New
York’s coronavirus restrictions.
Suffern Mayor Edward
Markunas was at his village’s event “to honor that sacrifice that they had made
for us to live in this freedom and democracy that we have here in the United
States.”
Other veterans in attendance, like Michael Curley, are glad that the
declining coronavirus cases are allowing residents to be together to deliver an
important message.
“It’s good that they
care that they recognize the people that sacrificed for all of us,” Curley
says. “For yesterday, for today and the future.”