Rome (WSYR-TV) – In Rome this Memorial Day, hundreds of people gathered for a ceremony at Veterans Park.
In the last few months, the Rome community has lost two Marines -- Lance Corporal Daniel Geary and Lance Corporal Blaise Oleski, both 22 years old and killed while serving in Afghanistan.
Both men -- and others who died before them – were being honored Monday.
For the parents of Geary, killed just two months ago, the pain is fresh.
For the mother of Sgt. Michael Uvanni, who was killed nearly five years ago, the pain hasn't gone away.
In addition to Geary, Oleski and Uvanni, Sgt. Christopher Simpson, who also lost his life during war, was honored Monday.
“Many of you gathered today knew these exceptional young men as brothers, sons, classmates and friends. I know them as heroes,” says Rome mayor Jim Brown.
And for those heroes came a fitting 21-gun salute.
“That's what we're trying to remember today. I guess my favorite saying is ‘all of us gave some, some of us gave all,’” says VFW Post 2246 Commander Nelson Robinson.
In all, nine servicemen from the Mohawk Valley region have died while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, since the war in Iraq began in 2003.
