Late Corp. Michael Mayne
from Burlington Flats
honored with
Veterans’ Hall of Fame induction
STAFF REPORT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
BURLINGTON FLATS — After a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, late Corp. Michael Mayne of Burlington Flats was honored as an inductee to a veterans hall of fame.
State Sen. Peter Oberacker, R-Schenevus, joined former Sen. James L. Seward to pay tribute Monday, May 31, to the late Corp. Michael Mayne of Burlington Flats, the 2020 inductee to the New York State Senate Veterans’ Hall of Fame from the 51st Senate District.
Mayne’s parents Cathy and Lee accepted the honor on behalf of their son. Additionally, members of the 1st Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, who served with Corporal Mayne, made the trip to Burlington to take part in the ceremony.
Corporal Mayne was the 2020 Senate Veterans’ Hall of Fame inductee from the 51st Senate District, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, Burlington Memorial Day ceremony was cancelled and the presentation was rescheduled for this year.
“We owe an eternal debt of gratitude to the men and women who have fought and died for our freedoms,” Oberacker said. “Corporal Michael Maybe personified the true meaning of hero and it is my extreme honor to join Senator Seward in presenting this fitting honor.”
“Corporal Michael Mayne was an exemplary soldier who cared deeply about his country and the men and women he served alongside,” Seward said. “As my final inductee to the Senate Veterans’ Hall of Fame, I could think of no one more deserving.”
Mayne, who was 21 at the time of his death, served in the United States Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, a unit of the 25th Infantry Division based at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
Mayne died, along with two other American soldiers and a translator on Feb. 23, 2009, in Balad, Iraq, when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.
A 2006 graduate of Edmeston Central School, Mayne knew from a young age that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and serve his nation in the military. He joined the Army shortly after his high school graduation.
On Memorial Day 2003, he unveiled an Eagle Scout project in memorial park in his hometown of Burlington Flats with flagpoles for each branch of the military. Flags representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines and the United States continue to wave and a memorial to Mayne has since been installed underneath the flags he conceived and built.
The New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame inductees may be former members of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. The exceptional men and women are chosen for this prestigious honor based on either service in combat or notable work performed after discharge from the service.