For 24 years, the Woodbourne Fire Company has been honoring those who have served in the armed forces. On Saturday, November 5, they once again gathered and paraded through Woodbourne before settling at the firehouse for a ceremony.

Veterans, emergency personnel, friends and family, and elected officials greeted the parade onlookers who stood on the sidelines, waving as the marching band Saints of Swing led the parade.

This year’s Parade Marshall was Veteran Bruce Van Vleet, who entered the service on February 13, 1968, and was dispatched out to Vietnam in June, 1968 and was part of the Main Battalion in Panang. Vleet was discharged in 1969 and honorably discharged in 1974.

Vleet said he was honored to be chosen to be the parade Marshall and said that veterans put everything on the line when they serve.

“Freedom is not free,” said Vleet as he reminisced about growing up in Woodbourne and how much he was part of the fire company as a youth, going to the dances and ice skating on a frozen pond. Vleet said those are memories he would cherish forever.

Every year, the Woodbourne Fire Company parade highlights one veteran locally who has served. This year it was Sergeant James Richardson, who left Liberty High School at 18 years old and enlisted in the Army in 1962.

After taking basic training in Fort Dix, New Jersey, Sergeant Richardson went through several assignments from New Jersey to Fort Jackson, and in June 1968, he was reassigned to AIT Command Group USATC Infantry in Fort Lewis, Washington, and soon after was sent over to the war in Vietnam.

While overseas, Sgt. Richardson was wounded by a land mine and received the purple heart in 1969. He was discharged in Oakland, California.

But Sgt. Richardson’s service did not end there; he joined the Army Reserves Bullville Company D and was finally discharged from service in 1977.

Sgt. Richardson received numerous awards during his time in service, such as the Good Conduct Award, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Purple Heart and  a three-time recipient of the Army Commendation.

The Woodbourne Fire Company Veterans Day parade also had guest speakers such as Sullivan County Sheriff Mike Schiff, Sullivan County Clerk Russell Reeves, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, Deputy Supervisor for Fallsburg, Dr. Sean Wall-Carty, and New York State Senator Mike Martucci.

Sheriff Schiff said that when there is such turmoil in  our country, “sometimes we forget why we have the right to have discourse and why you can have opposing points of view.”

That reason is the veterans who served our armed forces.

“Without them, we don’t have a country; a country like ours would not survive,” said Sheriff Schiff. “It’s those patriots that are willing to put their lives on the line, take years out of their life to go serve. I think it’s so appropriate that we take at least one day a year where we thank our veterans, and we try to reflect on the value of the service they have given.”

State Senator Martucci added, “Nothing is more important to America than her freedom. Because of you, America’s best days are still to come. And it’s because of you that we marched forward with faith, with freedom, and with courage, knowing that there is absolutely no limit to what America can accomplish. Thank you to our veterans.”