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(Honesdale, May 27, 2009)… Close to 300 people, most of them U.S. military veterans, took part in a moving ceremony to re-dedicate Wayne Memorial Hospital on Friday, May 22, the eve of Memorial Day weekend. The event, which included a 21-gun salute, marked the reinstatement of the original bronze tablet that memorialized 55 local soldiers killed in World War I. The tablet was recently placed on the outside corner of the new building that currently houses the hospital’s expanded Emergency Department.  Among the participants in Friday’s ceremony were two hospital employees who had relatives named on the plaque.  Sandy Flynn, RN/Operating Room, still wears the ring of her great uncle, Arthur Cargin, who died in France in 1918. Sharon Bryant/Operating Room, only found out recently that her great uncle, William Hedgelon, was also listed on the tablet. 

      “It’s great that we’re keeping their memory alive,” said Bryant, who added, “I know so many people who are serving now. We should remember them all.”

      Wayne Memorial Board Chairman Helge Mortensen spoke at the ceremony, which was organized by G. Richard Garman, executive director for the Wayne Memorial Health Foundation, and emceed by a former board chairman, Paul Meagher.  Meagher said he was honored to help rededicate the hospital; Mortensen spoke eloquently of the contributions of veterans—“veterans, not the press, gave us freedom of speech, veterans, not preachers, gave us freedom of religion…veterans gave us… the right to bear arms…and the freedom to assemble.”

      State Senator Lisa Baker (R) was the keynote speaker. Baker, who chairs the Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee, talked about the hospital’s ongoing commitment to care and the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.