HONORING THOSE WHO SERVED Dean DeWitt is the organizer of the Military Banners Project which will begin hanging tribute banners in Livingston Manor and Roscoe this month. Audrey Garro photo
A much needed tribute
Vet banners coming to Main Street
By Aidan Dusenbury-Dalto | Manor Ink
Roscoe, NY – Have you ever noticed banners honoring veterans along streets in neighboring counties and towns? Well, Dean DeWitt has, but he has also noticed there are none here in Livingston Manor or Roscoe. He’s decided to do something about that.
“There needs to be something to bring our community back together.”
“What really got me wanting to do this was after what all of us had gone through with the COVID pandemic, the community connections that I remember growing up had really been destroyed,” DeWitt said. “There needs to be something to bring our community back together.”
HONOR DUE A banner for a serviceman from the Town of Rockland.
He paused for a moment, and then added, “The DeWitts have been in Livingston Manor for at least 100 years. So we have strong roots here. There’s a lot of military in our family.” As a combat veteran, DeWitt served in Iraq during the troop surge of 2007, and it was that experience and the other veterans in his family that really made him want to step forward and take on the banner project.
Veterans, past and present
COMING TOGETHER DeWitt hopes that the hanging of the banners will help revive a sense of community he feels was lost following the COVID pandemic. Audrey Gallo photo
Starting this month, the Rockland Military Banners project will be put into action, with two-by-four-foot banners honoring veterans, residents, active duty reserve and National Guard members being hung from utility poles in town. “We’re doing the dual-banner system,” said DeWitt. “We’ll have a banner for the veteran on the one side, and on the other side we’ll be able to have community banners for high school graduates or for community events as well.”
Banners will be put up in Livingston Manor and Roscoe and are expected to last up to three years. DeWitt has a plan to maintain the quality of the images. “When a replacement is needed, the price is lower than buying a new banner.”
The effort is intended to bring a sense of cohesion and purpose back to the hamlets’ residents. “It’s important for our community to remember the sacrifices of these individuals,” said DeWitt.
Dean DeWitt has been working with elected officials, town employees and members of the Chambers of Commerce in both Livingston Manor and Roscoe to bring this tribute program to fruition. But memorial banners like those he is organizing are not just for people from the Town of Rockland. If residents have other family members who served, or are particularly inspired by a serviceperson they feel should be honored, they can nominate those persons for a banner. The cost to sponsor one is $250. To learn more, visit militarytributebanners.org, click “Banner Programs” in the top menu and locate “New York” and then “Rockland.”