New London — Servicemen, politicians, residents and students packed Parade Plaza Sunday night, taking in the sights and sounds of the eighth annual Memorial Day and Hope Week Candlelight Vigil.

The goal each year, according to co-chairwoman Donna Vendetto, is not only to remember "those that have given the ultimate sacrifice of life for this country," but also to educate students about what Memorial Day means.

"I think our children, our youth really don't have an understanding of what Memorial Day is all about," agreed co-chairwoman Valerie Tamano. "Including them in the program is really special."

Students, indeed, were included: after the New London High School Band offered a musical prelude and four from the high school's Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps presented the colors, a group of Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School fifth-grade students danced and sang while decked out in the colors of the U.S. flag.

"To be asked to perform on a day where we're recognizing the lives that were lost protecting our freedom, that's something I take very seriously," said Gregory Colossale, owner of BackBeat City, the traveling music, theater and dance school out of Glastonbury that worked with the Nathan Hale students on their performance.

The United States' freedom, Colossale said, impacted his immediate family — his father, born in Italy, came to the country for a better life in 1951. Now, Colossale tries to instill in his students the importance of freedom.

He said he thought the Nathan Hale students understood the concept well.

"They are putting out a product of such excitement," Colossale said of their Sunday night performance. "The New London kids ... they have a motivated, accelerated approach to being great. I think they know they're doing something exceptional."

Following short speeches from Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio, City Council President Wade Hyslop, state Sen. Paul Formica and Capt. Jack Vogt, assistant superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, were two tributes and a special recognition.

Remembered were New London native Peter Bentson and Waterford native Arthur Gagnier. Both served in Vietnam, with Bentson dying before the end of his second tour, and Gagnier dying years later from the effects of Agent Orange.

"If you had a kid, you would want a kid like Peter Bentson," said Mel Olsson before the ceremony. Olsson, who was in the New London High School Class of 1953 of which Bentson was president, was happy to be one of several classmates accepting Bentson's award Sunday.

"I never thought he got the recognition he deserved," he said.

The Memorial Day program also honored retired Commander Theodore Ward, who's led the high school's NJROTC program since its inception.

Behind each speaker, luminaries, many with names handwritten on them, cast a glow on the whale tail at the center of the plaza. For the second year, the ceremony concluded with a medley of the U.S. Armed Forces theme songs.

Mike Discordia, commander of the New London VFW Post 189, said nights like Sunday are "what we're all about."

"For our departed comrades to be recognized this way ... they made the supreme sacrifice," Discordia said. "It means everything."

l.boyle@theday.com