County Remembers the Fallen on Memorial Day
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — There were few Americans during World War II who didn't have a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a father, a neighbor, a classmate or a colleague serving in the military.It was a theme in the essay of Dylan Martin, a sixth-grader at Cheshire Elementary School, who spoke of how that war 70 years had affected his own family. His great-grandfather had fought in World War I and saw his only son, Charles, go off to war. He would die on Aug. 3, 1945, just days before the surrender of Japan.
His grandmother and her sister were left with pictures and memories of a boy lost at age 18.
"Charles and his cousin were shipped to Germany; nobody knew who was coming back and who wasn't," said Dylan, speaking at Cheshire's Memorial Day service. "War was a part of their life."
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Retired Army Master Sgt. Maj. Charles "Chuck" Roberts, one of the keynote speakers with his wife, retired Army Sgt. Maj. Mary Roberts, at the Williamstown observances, told how slight the impact has become.
"Less than 1 percent of Americans today are personally affected by our current wars ... that is a staggering statistic," he said. "Thank goodness for our volunteers who believe in our country and what they stand for."
Across the county, and the nation, towns and cities marked Memorial Day with parades and ceremonies to remind Americans that the day off wasn't just for barbecues and beaches. Locally, veterans, local officials and bands battled temperatures in the 90s to stand in cemeteries and at monuments to honor the fallen.
Mary Roberts said she, too, had thought of the day as a springboard for summer until joining the service. It was an experience that reshaped her outlook as she bonded with those who shared a sense of duty and sacrifice.
"Memorial Day is a day for Americans to come together honor the men and women who gave their lives that we may live free and to strive for a just and lasting peace," Roberts said. "A time for Americans to reconnect with their history and core values by honoring those who gave their lives for the ideals we cherish."
The day also serves as a way to understand history through the living, she said, urging those at the ceremony to stop in at the American Legion post and hear that history firsthand: "[The Legion] is a local window to the past, present and future of our American history."
For Chuck Roberts the impact, too, has been personal, including losing a neighbor and friend he grew up with to Vietnam.
"All our volunteers, they understand the inherent dangers associated with the decision and they accept the challenges before them," he said. "No service member wants to die; every one of us who wear or have worn the uniform of their branch do so with the pride, dignity and want nothing more than to come home to our familes each night."
But when diplomacy fails, Roberts said, "we will do what needs to be done."
Williamstown's ceremonies began with a parade from Spring Street to the veterans' memorial at Field Park and included the Mount Greylock Regional High School marching band, Scouts, Cal Ripken baseball teams and local officials. Maj. Adam Filson was master of ceremonies and Richard A. Ruether American Legion Post 152 Commander Kevin Hamel spoke and gave presentations. Parade marshals Capt. Cecil Harvey, Lt. Col. Frank Wellcome and Sgt. 1st Class Roland Roy were honored for their actions in the Army during World War II. Both Harvey and Wellcome were at Omaha Beach; Roy fought through Northern France and the Rhineland.
Blue Star banners were presented to parents with children in the service and flags to three families whose loved ones did not get military funerals. Michael Kennedy, retired veterans service officer of Williamstown and Post 152's master at arms, was given a plaque to recognize his many efforts for helping veterans in need.
In Pittsfield, keynote speaker Michael Case, a National Guard and Air Force veteran, said, Memorial Day is not just about remembering the soldiers who died in battle but also the soldiers who are missing and those who will be sent off to fight in the future,
"Our job is not done. We must prepare for the challenges in the next 10 years," Case said of ongoing military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I ask you to honor the missing as well."
Case, who fought in Vietnam, Bosnia and Iraq, delivered an inspiring speech at the Pittsfield Cemetery during the annual Memorial Day celebration reminding people that it is not a day of "solemn mourning" but rather a tribute to the "ordinary" men and women that rose to extraordinary challenges. The celebration, coinciding with the first day of summer, is a reminder that freedom is not free, he said to a crowd numbering more than 100.
Mayor James Ruberto said he wishes the holiday will be forever celebrated but hopes that this year is the last one marked with American soldiers in harm's way.
"One hundred and forty years ago Memorial Day began as a Civil War dedication ... Since then we have seen war, after war, after war," Ruberto said. "Don't we wish it could be different."
The parade kicked off at 10 a.m. at City Hall and ended at the cemetery. A pair of F-15Cs from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield flew over the cemetery moments before Case began his keynote address. Members of the Pittsfield High School band played taps and representatives from local veterans organizations laid poppies on a wreath for each of their local soldiers who died.
Lanesborough kicked off the holiday weekend with its parade on Sunday. Veteran Thomas Shoemaker was the keynote speaker. In North Adams, the city rededicated an addendum plaque of names of veterans inadvertently left off the main honor roll.
Cheshire's parade took its usual route through the town center and up to the memorial at the cemetery on West Mountain Road. Selectmen Chairwoman Carol Francesconi gave opening remarks and the Rev. David Raymond of St. Mary's Church the invocation. Ellen Rowe, a junior at Hoosac Valley High School gave the Gettysburg Address and the Hoosac Valley High School marching band offered musical selections.
"To all who have died securing our freedom and protecting our land, we honor you here today," said Francesconi. "We are honored to have men and women so devoted to their country that they leave family home and friends to defend and protect all of us."
In addition to Dylan Martin, fellow sixth-grader Joshua Pettit and fourth-grader Amber Brothers also read essays about Memorial Day.
Joshua provided some background on the day and its link to poppies. Memorial Day, he said, was "not just to gather with the family for a picnic but a time to remember to thank those who have given their lives for us."
Amber, who has a cousin serving, said, "sometimes we don't know how good we have it, we don't have to be slaves, we don't have to be scared of dying because there are bad people, all because of the solders."
The nation's servicemen are making the world a better place to live, said the fourth-grader, but she ended with the wish that "people would stop the fighting and become friends with whoever is trying to harm us."
Tags: holiday, Memorial Day, parade, veterans,
