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Memorial Day Remembrance

Veterans Freedom Park
Veterans Freedom Park Monday, May 27th 2:30pm-3:30pm Free event

Join them for a ceremony in remembrance of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The ceremony will feature speakers from the Town of Cary and local armed forces community support groups.

Speakers
Heather Rossi served in the US Air Force from 1997-2008, including deployments supporting Kosovo, the Balkans, and Afghanistan, leaving at the rank of major. Additionally, she has worked supporting Army family readiness groups and other Army family programs across the country. She joins the USO of North Carolina after working with another not-for-profit supporting veterans and their families in the mental health field. Heather brings a unique knowledge of veteran needs, from being the child of a veteran, to a spouse of a veteran, to raising children with military parents, to being a veteran herself. Heather joined the USO of North Carolina team in March 2019. Her experience in project management and event planning serve her well in her position of program operations manager supporting both NCServes Central Carolina and Warrior and Family Programs across the state of North Carolina.

George McDowell and his wife, Geraldine, live in Cary. George served a total of eight years on active and reserve duty in the U. S. Army. He was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division for a year. In two tours with the 1st Infantry Division on the DMZ in the Republic of Korea as a helicopter pilot, he flew border-patrol missions, troop insertion and extraction flights, and recon and re-supply missions. After his Army service, George attended St. John’s College in Annapolis and graduated the University Of Maryland School of Law.  George practiced law for 30 years and is now retired. He happily serves as a househusband and as junior vice-commander of the Cary Franklin-Sloan Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7383. In his spare time he advocates for the re-forestation of the Piedmont plateau.

Bill Kretzschmar has been a Cary resident for the last 29 years. He was a pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years and served two tours in Vietnam. After his service, he flew for American Airlines for 30 years until his retirement. He has volunteered with the RDU USO since its inception in 2004 and was named the USO of NC volunteer of the year in 2018.

Parking
Free parking (regular and handicap accessible) will be available at Cary Academy (1500 N. Harrison Ave.), which is located across the street from the Veterans Freedom Park. There will be a handicap accessible shuttle running from Cary Academy"s parking lot to the event at Veterans Freedom Park. There will also be a police provided crosswalk available to those who wish to walk from the parking lot instead of taking the shuttle.

Special Features
The Town will again offer toy soldiers that citizens can write a soldier"s name on and place in the memorial as a way to honor all of those who have served in the armed forces. These soldiers will be saved and placed in the monument every Memorial Day and Veterans Day.