Local veterans, police, firefighters, Boy Scouts and 102-year-old Boot Gordon, a WWII fighter pilot, gathered at Dillon Cemetery this morning for the annual Memorial Day service.
This is what Memorial Day means to them.
A chance for me to reflect upon the missing and the POWs and what they gave to our country, which is our freedom.” – Wendy Myers, Summit Rotary
“We need to recognize all of those people that sacrificed for our freedom.” – Officer Thomas Plaza, with Dillon-Keystone PD and former U.S. Army
“For me, really, it means carrying forward the ultimate sacrifice through our actions, not just today, but every day.” – Natalie Donovan Flores, Summit County Elks Lodge
“A time to pause and remember and support all the people that have given their lives for public service and our military, and focus and remember on what’s important.” – Chief Cale Osborne, Dillon-Keystone PD
“We’re remembering all the fallen veterans and all the people who served in our wars, and we’re remembering all their services that they’ve done… Honoring them and what they did to help our country and how it is today.” – the scouts of Boy Scout Troop 188
Several from the audience took the stage to remember fallen friends and family, including Dee, a local veteran now in his 80s, who remembered a friend of the family drafted into WWII. The friend recently died at 96 years old.
Boot Gordon then took the stage, with a little help from Dillon staff, to share memories from his time flying P-38s across the Pacific. At 102 he is just as sharp today as he was then – and just as deadpan funny.
“I want to honor my buddies,” Gordon said. “My squadron shot down Admiral Yamamoto (of the Imperial Japanese Navy). The good thing about a fighter pilot is if you got wounded, you never came home, see, because you couldn’t fly home. When most of us came out of the war we were in one piece, and that was kind of neat.”
Officer Plaza read names of more than 50 veterans interred at Dillon Cemetery, some dating back to the 1800s.
Images from the Dillon Memorial Day ceremony in Dillon, Colo. on May 25 2026.