Abner & Cynthia Oakes Selected as
Grand Marshals
of Hamden's 2010 Memorial Day Parade |
Mayor Scott Jackson announced that Mr. And Mrs. Abner
Oakes have been selected as Grand Marshals of Hamden's 74th
annual Memorial Day Parade on May 31, 2010. After her brother
was declared a POW/MIA in 1971, Cynthia Oakes became the Greater
New Haven Coordinator for Voices in Vital America. Over 13,000
POW/MIA bracelets were distributed with the help of the Hamden
Junior Women's Club. Many Americans still wear the engraved
silver bracelets. On Sunday, January 28, 1973, with the help of
Mayor William Adams and the Citizens of Hamden, Freedom Park was
dedicated on the corner of Dixwell and Whitney Avenues, the
first park in the State of Connecticut dedicated to the American
servicemen who are POW/MIAs.
Abner Oakes is Chairman of the Hamden Veterans Commission,
and a retired Naval Officer with 32 years of service to his
Country. He flew as a Navigator and was an Air Intelligence
Officer. Mr. Oakes is a member of American Legion Post #88, an
honorary member of JWV Post #204, former President of the
National Neptune Association, and a member of the Naval Air
Museum. He served as Chairman of the Naval Academy's Blue and
Gold Program for the State of Connecticut for 20 years. Mr.
Oakes, with the participation of the Veterans Commission and
Middle School teacher Dan Levy, is responsible for Hamden
Veterans Awareness Day, which takes place at Quinnipiac
University on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. |
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