Study: Eastern Cemetery needs TLC BY DAVID CARKHUFF THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Last week, leading up to Memorial Day, city crews spent a few hours each afternoon tending to Eastern Cemetery. But it’s no secret that city finances are tight, and Portland has turned to private groups to help take care of many of its public spaces. “It's resource driven in terms of
TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2011
In between drizzles earlier this month, Timothy A. Greene, blacksmith from Parsonsfield, welds a gate at the Eastern Cemetery, part of repairs to the 1668-era landmark. Greene said the weather for welding wasn’t ideal but that he wanted to finish the job. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)
“There are a huge number of stones that have been broken. We estimated that there were upwards of 670 stones that require conservation treatment, nearly 700 stones, and the cost is probably going to be close to $700,000.” — Michael Trinkley, preservation expert where crews are and what they're able to work on over the summer months,” said Nicole Clegg, spokes-
VOL. 3 NO. 84
person for the city, talking about cemetery maintenance. see CEMETERY page 6
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Normandy vet honors fallen heroes of WWII City, Legion honor fallen soldiers, police officers with Memorial Day ceremonies BY DAVID CARKHUFF THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Army veteran Nick Sangillo of Portland almost didn’t live to join the Normandy landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Sangillo recalled crossing the Atlantic to England and commenting to a crew member, “Look at that swordfish,” but the silver shape in the ocean wasn’t a swordfish. “He said, That’s no G-D swordfish, that’s a torpedo,’ this much away,” Sangillo recalled, gesturing with his hands to indicate a matter of feet. “Fifteen thousand men aboard the ship made it to England, by luck. If that torpedo had hit, I wouldn’t be talking to you today.” Sangillo, who marched Monday in Portland’s Memorial Day parade, earned four Purple Hearts at Normandy. But for Sangillo, the medals weren’t important; he marches for the fellow soldiers that were lost in the war. “This is in honor of the real heroes who didn’t make it home,” he said, explaining why
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“Fifteen thousand men aboard the ship made it to England, by luck. If that torpedo had hit, I wouldn’t be talking to you today.” — Army veteran Nick Sangillo he marches in the parade even at age 87. An Army infantryman in World War II, Sangillo doesn’t have many peers left today. Former legislator Herb Adams and parade participant noted, “Nick is one of the very last World War II vets who still march in the Portland parade. It’s declined quickly in the last five years, Nick has been a stalwart.” The invasion of Normandy, the largest amphibious invasion in world history, involved more than 160,000 troops, but few are still alive today. Time hasn’t been the only factor; the landing itself on the beaches of France proved costly. see MEMORIAL DAY page 8
LEFT: World War II veteran Nick Sangillo (left) shakes hands with Rick Cobb before Monday’s Memorial Day parade at Longfellow Square. (DAVID CARKHUFF PHOTO)
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