The weather forecast was ominous — a chance of showers throughout the day. The rain wouldn’t affect the guests at the Towns 4 Troops barbecue. They could eat under the pavilion at the Black Rock Fish & Game Club and listen to the bands performing on the covered stage.
But the threat of dampness on July 22 made a difference to Laurene Sandstrom of Monroe. She’s the custodian of the “Remembering Our Fallen: New York State Memorial Wall.”
It’s not a wall made of brick or stone. It’s a collection of photographs that includes every service member from New York State who was killed in action between 2001 and 2016. Ms. Sandstrom couldn’t risk having the photographs get wet; so she set up the display in the clubhouse and it filled the entire meeting room.
Only a few people knew about the exhibit until an announcement was made to the barbecue guests in the late afternoon. Before that, the only ones to view it were club members, who had time to read the information provided with each photograph — name, rank, residence, age at death as well as place and cause of death.
There was other material to read. Previous guests had used post-it notes to attach messages to the pictures. One that caught our attention was written by a child named Ava and addressed to Major Paul Voelke of Monroe, who died in 2012.
Ava drew several hearts and then wrote, “You were a grate man.” The misspelling took nothing away from the sentiment.
Ms. Sandstrom took over the “wall” in March after it had been in a closet for two years. She heard about the Towns 4 Troops event from a friend, and set up the display on Friday evening, July 20. She was planning to move it to the Government Center in Goshen on July 26, and then bring it to Mechanicsville in August.
She told us that her brother is on the wall, and that unfortunately the exhibit is continuing to grow as more service people are dying. In recent months, she’s met other Gold Star parents and siblings, and has come to regard the people on the wall as her extended family. “I like to think,” she told us, “that they’re keeping each other company in Heaven.”
NOTE: Towns 4 Troops supports local active duty Marines as well as troops out of Stewart and West Point. The organization was expecting 500 people at its barbecue.
