More than 200 veterans, supporters, and friends and family of those who gave their lives for their country in the last century gathered at the P3 Park at Brunswick Landing on Saturday. The ceremony honored men and women from Brunswick who were killed or missing in action and prisoners of war from the battlefield from World War I to the present.

The Fallen Warrior ceremony was orga- nized by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1044 based in Sanford, in cooperation with the Mid-Coast Veterans Council.

Contacting family members of veterans killed is “the most difficult thing you have to do as governor,” said Gov. Paul LePage, speaking at the ceremony. “The family carries that scar forever.”

LePage said that he had “lived the American dream” made possible by the sacrifices of veterans.

“We cannot forget our fallen,” the governor said. “We must show how grateful we are for all of our fallen heroes.”

Mid-Coast Veterans Council President, retired Navy Master Chief, and Vietnam veteran Roger Dumont recalled how he and his father — a World War II veteran — would spend Memorial Day finding graves of veterans, placing flags upon the headstones that had none.

When Dumont returned from Vietnam, however, he said his country had kicked him and his fellow servicemen and women to the curb.

“We fought back for our dignity,” he said. “No one was ever going to take that away from us again. … To our fellow Vietnam veterans, I say to you, ‘Welcome home.’”

Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1044 President Joe Armstrong vowed that, “never again” would one generation of veterans abandon another.

“Our American dream always has a payment due,” said Steve Wallace, a former Marine and former Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber president and CEO, speaking during the ceremony.

Wallace paid tribute to other servicemen and women, noting that “America is the land of the free because it is the home of the brave.”

During the ceremony, a bell was rung once for each name of a lost soldier read aloud, followed by a threeround rifle volley and “Taps.”

A Fallen Soldiers Memorial, also known as a Battlefield Cross, was assembled by servicemen and civilians, made from a rifle, helmet, roses, dogtags and boots.

Three servicemen were honored with Gold Star medals by LePage and Maine Director Bureau of Veterans’ Services Peter Ogden. Ogden noted the difficulty in finding families of those who served, in part because many Maine veterans were listed by county and not by town.

Having the opportunity to meet veterans and their families was akin to getting “to talk to a piece of living history,” said Ogden.