On 15 July 2018, TSP was invited to Hadlock Field in Portland Maine, home of the Portland Sea Dogs baseball team.
As an abbreviated demonstration of how every Summit Project hike is conducted, we draw your attention now to the special way that The Summit Project serves the faithful, the fallen, and our Gold Star families.
The Faithful today are represented by the core leaders of The Summit Project organization. They are Russ Shoberg, Susan Simmons, Greg Johnson and Dave Coté who each have taken time to learn about our heroes, launch on a tribute trek and write a post event reflection letter to Gold Star Families;
The Fallen we honor are symbolized by the stones you see in their hands. Stones that uniquely represent our fallen; They are unearthed and donated by our heroes’ families, and have come from all over Maine – backyards, churchyards, farmer’s fields, swimming holes, fishing holes and even overseas. Our heroes’s initials, rank, service branch, year of birth and year of death is forever engraved on each stone. Today we honor FOUR fallen Maine heroes: Army Private First Class Andrew Small of Wiscasset, Army Corporal Andrew Hutchins of New Portland, Army Chief Warrant Officer Tania Dunbar ofMillinocket, and Army Master Sergeant Robert Horrigan of Limestone.
The Families we honor are Gold Star families who belong to a group that no one wishes to join; surviving mothers, fathers, siblings, and spouses who have each received a knock on the door and the unexpected and tragic news of a lost loved one. The Summit Project delivers on a promise we make to them — that their loved ones will NOT be forgotten.
Today, representing all Gold Star families across the state of Maine are Gold Star mothers Cindy Small of Wiscasset and Betsy Hutchins of Leeds. These courageous women will receive the stones of our heroes today which include the honor stones of their respective sons who died while supporting and defending our way of life.
Although every Summit Project ceremony is a somber event, we know that the lives of our fallen can continue to influence and inspire generations to come; their acts of courage, love, compassion and perseverance give us hope for the future. We believe that if they were living and with us today, they would have enjoyed bringing their families to a baseball game just like this one, on a July weekend in Maine. Instead of getting that chance themselves, they give us the freedom, liberty and security to enjoy it for them.
So let us all today, in our daily lives and going forward, not allow their deaths to be in vain, but let us instead carry on their unfinished work toward creating a safe and sound America and let us all live a life that is worthy of their ultimate sacrifice.
Maine Heroes are NOT Forgotten.
