Michael Edwards, a Vietnam War veteran and past commander of American Legion Post 62, will read a short poem, “Veteran of the Red White and Blue” by Jean Meyer.

“I thought that would be appropriate, and I’ll probably add something to it,” said Edwards, who first heard the poem at a local veteran’s funeral, one of many he attends each year as a member of the Dunkirk Joint Veterans honor guard.

“They wanted that read off at the service and when I heard it, I thought, ‘Geez, you know, that kind of touched me a little bit,'” comments Edwards.

As an active volunteer in the Dunkirk community, Edwards has touched the lives of many area residents having served more than 25 years with youth baseball including manager, coach, and officer for the Dunkirk Little League and Dunkirk Babe Ruth organizations.

Photo by Thomas Schwendler Michael Edwards has a collection of obituaries of area veterans on his table.

“For the last four years, I’ve been in responsible for ordering flags for our cemeteries here in Dunkirk so we can make sure every deceased veteran gets a flag,” he explains. Volunteers will place hundreds of flags at the cemeteries starting Wednesday before Memorial Day.

“Something that I was always told was to try to make a difference. So that’s why I get involved,” says Edwards, a member of American Legion Post 62, Dunkirk Joint Veterans Council, and VFW Post 1017. “There’s a degree of self-satisfaction that you’re accomplishing something.”

Edwards grew up in Dunkirk and is a graduate of Dunkirk High School. Edwards enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965 and served as a radio operator until being discharged in 1967. He was awarded a Purple Heart after being injured by shrapnel.

He was a local labor leader and advocate serving in many officer positions for the United Steelworkers union. He retired from Dunkirk Radiator in 2007.

He is married to Martha Edwards, who is an officer in the Ladies Auxiliary at Post 62. They have two sons, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Following the parade, Edwards expects members of his family at Legion Post 62 for their annual Memorial Day Chicken barbecue which annually serves more than 700 dinners.

Before he gets there though, Edwards will be remembering Dunkirk natives who were killed in wars including some he knew personally from Vietnam.

“Number one, Memorial Day is a tribute to all our deceased veterans,” he says.

This year’s parade ceremony begins at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 25 at Memorial Park. The parade begins at 11 at the same location before moving to Central Avenue.

Here’s the poem Edwards will read:

Veteran of the Red, White and Blue

By Jean Meyer

To the veterans of the red white and blue.

We the people owe you a debt of gratitude

Remembering and honoring those who died

To the brothers and sisters you left behind.

To insure your loss was not in vain

And to the ones that remain

We place a flag and say a prayer

To honor your name, to show we care.

We salute you the strong and the brave.

As we humbly kneel at your grave.

Placing a wreath or a cross

We are truly sorry for those we lost.