Francestown honored its veterans at the town’s annual Memorial Day ceremony Thursday at Francestown Elementary School.

Typically, the Bennington Brown-Knight VFW Post 8268 Color Guard assembles in the FES school parking lot and leads students, staff and parents down 2nd New Hampshire Turnpike to Francestown’s Cemetery No. 3 for a ceremony and laying of wreaths. However, due to cold and rain, the ceremony was held inside the school’s multipurpose room.

“It’s not the best weather, but that’s OK,” said veteran Michael Tartalis. “What matters is that we can be here with the kids and remember our veterans and all those who served.”

Steve Griffin, a veteran of the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, read a history of Memorial Day, which dates back to 1868 and was first officially celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery.

Griffin explained the significance of the red poppies worn by veterans on Memorial Day.

“This tradition dates all the way back to World War I, which must seem like a very long time ago, ” Griffin said.

Members of Francestown’s 4-H troop performed their annual reading of the World War II poem “In Flanders Fields” by World War I veteran John McCrae and carried red flowers to the veterans, symbolizing the placement of flowers on veterans’ graves.

Ronald Cheney, a new member of VFW Post 8298, read a statement honoring Memorial Day.

“This is a day of remembrance, reflection and somber celebration recognizing the sacrifices made to protect and preserve our nation,” Cheney said. “Our students have been the centerpiece for this day, and in doing so, they learned about our nation, its travails, its character and its sacred practices.”

Cheny said the planned gathering at Cemetery No. 3 “brought to mind the gathering in 1863 in Gettysburg, Pa.”

“The gathering was at a cemetery that was to be consecrated as the resting place for the soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg,” Cheney said. “President Abraham Lincoln delivered an address that was part of a ceremony. His address was 271 words, and it took him two minutes to speak it, but it continues to resonate to this very day, to continue to guide us in our national life. Lincoln described our nation’s founding as ‘having been conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal.’ Lincoln said the Civil War ‘questioned and tested whether such a nation could endure, that the sacrifice of those to be buried in that new cemetery should elevate the nation’s commitment to ensure that the Union prevailed and the nation endured.’”

Cheney said every generation has the responsibility to continue to protect the founding principles of our nation.

“Blessings on these students, their teachers, the town staff, and this school,” he said. “And finally, blessings on our nation.”

Francestown Elementary School students sang “It’s a Grand Old Flag” and “This Land is Your Land.”

After Griffin asked the assembled students if anyone had veterans in their family, more than a dozen hands went up. At the close of the ceremony, Claire Fifield, band teacher from Great Brook Middle School, played taps on the trumpet.

“It is such an honor to be here. There is nothing like live music,” she said.

After the ceremony, the color guard proceeded to all three Francestown cemeteries to lay wreaths at monuments to veterans. Veterans present in Thursday’s color guard were Scott Carbee, Army; Brian Quinn, post commander, Bennington VFW Post 8298, Army; Travis Thompson, Army; Michael Tartalis, Army; Steve Griffin, Navy; Susan Kane, Air Force, Bill McNeil, Navy; and Ronald Cheney, Army.