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Veterans Day was a little more meaningful for some of Cohocton’s townspeople this year.
About one hundred people gathered in Lawrence Parks Recreation Area during a small dedication ceremony for a permanent memorial that honors U.S. Army Sgt. Devin A. Snyder.
Snyder, a 2008 Wayland-Cohocton graduate, died June 4 from a roadside bomb in the Laghman Province of Afghanistan. She was 20 years old.
The ceremony began at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – the traditional day and time for Veterans Day services across the country, which honors the anniversary of the armistice of World War I.
Cohocton and Atlanta Honor Guards jointly entered and stood behind the memorial, which was draped in an American flag on a grassy island in the park’s parking area, as U.S. Army Specialists Michael Sick and Christopher Velez, both from Cohocton, placed Snyder’s framed uniform jacket on an easel next to the memorial.
Rev. David Bernard, former St. Paul’s Lutheran Church minister, and pastor for the Snyder family, led a moment of silence and then said a prayer for all veterans and current servicemen and servicewomen.
The National Anthem was then sung accapella by Bethany Adams and Sarah Zeh.
Cohocton Town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus read aloud a resolution from the town board regarding the monument.
“Today we pay homage to her and all of those who answered the call,” Zigenfus read. “She fought for freedom in a place where liberty is a danger. Her sacrifice was made in the name of duty, honor, and country. May this memorial stand for her, her fellow comrades who dedicated their lives for our freedom.”
Zigenfus then thanked those who contributed to the memorial, which was donated anonymously.
Rick Lynn, Jeff Emmons and Justin Coats, all from Atlanta Legion Post #766 unveiled the memorial, a three-to-four-foot tall granite rock with a plaque that simply reads, “Sgt. Devin A. Snyder Memorial; U.S. Army 164th Military Police Co.; August 7, 1990; June 4, 2011.”
They then folded the flag, and Sarah Zeh and Bethany Adams followed by singing, “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
Joseph Sempolinski, district director for Congressman Tom Reed, R-29, read aloud a letter from the congressman.
Reed could not attend the dedication due to a prior committment to personally honor veterans during services in Corning.
“I hold today the reassurance of knowing that her sacrifice was not a vain one,” Sempolinski read. “It is one that is honored by her community here in Cohocton and the nation at large.”
Veterans Day was a little more meaningful for some of Cohocton’s townspeople this year.
About one hundred people gathered in Lawrence Parks Recreation Area during a small dedication ceremony for a permanent memorial that honors U.S. Army Sgt. Devin A. Snyder.
Snyder, a 2008 Wayland-Cohocton graduate, died June 4 from a roadside bomb in the Laghman Province of Afghanistan. She was 20 years old.
The ceremony began at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – the traditional day and time for Veterans Day services across the country, which honors the anniversary of the armistice of World War I.
Cohocton and Atlanta Honor Guards jointly entered and stood behind the memorial, which was draped in an American flag on a grassy island in the park’s parking area, as U.S. Army Specialists Michael Sick and Christopher Velez, both from Cohocton, placed Snyder’s framed uniform jacket on an easel next to the memorial.
Rev. David Bernard, former St. Paul’s Lutheran Church minister, and pastor for the Snyder family, led a moment of silence and then said a prayer for all veterans and current servicemen and servicewomen.
The National Anthem was then sung accapella by Bethany Adams and Sarah Zeh.
Cohocton Town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus read aloud a resolution from the town board regarding the monument.
“Today we pay homage to her and all of those who answered the call,” Zigenfus read. “She fought for freedom in a place where liberty is a danger. Her sacrifice was made in the name of duty, honor, and country. May this memorial stand for her, her fellow comrades who dedicated their lives for our freedom.”
Zigenfus then thanked those who contributed to the memorial, which was donated anonymously.
Rick Lynn, Jeff Emmons and Justin Coats, all from Atlanta Legion Post #766 unveiled the memorial, a three-to-four-foot tall granite rock with a plaque that simply reads, “Sgt. Devin A. Snyder Memorial; U.S. Army 164th Military Police Co.; August 7, 1990; June 4, 2011.”
They then folded the flag, and Sarah Zeh and Bethany Adams followed by singing, “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
Joseph Sempolinski, district director for Congressman Tom Reed, R-29, read aloud a letter from the congressman.
Reed could not attend the dedication due to a prior committment to personally honor veterans during services in Corning.
“I hold today the reassurance of knowing that her sacrifice was not a vain one,” Sempolinski read. “It is one that is honored by her community here in Cohocton and the nation at large.”
Reed’s letter went on to say that it seems fitting that the memorial is placed in the very park where Snyder once worked as a counselor, and that children will play for generations near her memorial just as they played under her watchful eye.
After Reed’s remarks, Rev. Bernard led a concluding prayer, the honor guard was dismissed, and Devin’s parents were the first to get a close-up view of their daughter’s memorial.
Attendees then quietly stepped forward to view their fallen friend and hero’s memorial.
Both parents described the monument as “beautiful.”
“We live in a great community,” Devin’s mother Dineen said. “The support that has come from them has definitely helped us get through.”
Devin’s father, Edward, said Congressman Reed’s letter said it best. “We live in a community that would give us anything and do anything [in support].”
The framed uniform that stood next to the monument during the ceremony has been donated to the Cohocton Historical Society.
