Wakefield honors its military heroes

Published in the May 28, 2019 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD – The West Side Social Club’s Memorial Day exercises got underway on Moulton Field at 10 a.m. yesterday under bright, sunny skies.

Master of Ceremonies Bill Bloom said that Memorial Day has always had special meaning for him.

“I’m not someone who protected this country,” he said. “I’m merely a beneficiary. Freedom is the most important facet of our lives. I’m fortunate enough that I’ve never had to fight an enemy who wants to take that away.”

Bloom introduced Town Council Vice Chair Ann Santos.

Santos recalled that as an 8th grader at Wakefield Junior High School, she received the Anthony G. Velardo Award for Citizenship. She noted that Lance Corporal Velardo was killed in action in Vietnam three months before she was born.

“It is important for our children to know that these boys walked the same school halls and played on the same fields,” Santos noted, “and ultimately made the decision to serve their country.” Cpl. Velardo, she reflected, was not much older when he was killed in 1966 than her own son is now.

WSSC President Michael Delory reminded those in attendance that in 1945 the club planted 18 trees in memory of men who had lost their live in the World War II. Yesterday’s ceremony then proceeded with the rededication of the original 18 trees as well as those that have been added over the years in memory of fallen heroes.

A line of sentries, many of them relatives or friends of the fallen, proceeded to take their places at each tree. As Bloom read the name of each hero, Woodville School second grader Grace Benson placed a red rose next to original plaques displayed on the infield.

Keynote speaker Sam Stella, a US Army veteran, recalled attending the WSSC Memorial Day ceremonies as a child. There would be many more men in uniform in attendance back then, he recalled, many of them from World War II.

He remembered that after the soldiers fired off their rifle salute, he and other kids would run over to collect the spent shells.

“It was a solemn occasion too,” he said, “as we saw the sad faces of those who had lost loved ones in the war.”

Stella recalled seeing the carnage of war first-hand. While in the Army during the Vietnam War, he tended to severely injured soldiers flown from the battlefield to medical facilities in Okinawa and Hawaii. Seeing the damage that war inflicted on those soldiers, including the loss of limbs, changed his life, Stella said.

“It made me very humble,” he said. Still, he recalled that when he came home, he was “unwelcome here, because of the times.”

The WSSC Memorial Day ceremony concluded with Carissa Scudieri singing “God Bless America.”

The town’s Memorial Day observance took place at 1 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Auditorium at the Galvin Middle School.

Veterans Advisory Board chairman Jay Pinette called upon Boy Scouts from Troop 701 to post the colors. Local American Legion Commander Tom Collins then led the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem was sung by WMHS senior Samantha Prosperi.

Rev. Bruce Taylor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Wakefield offered the invocation.

Pinette talked about the history of Memorial Day, noting that it was celebrated on May 30 every year until 1968 when it was changed to the last Monday in May.

In the view of many, including the VFW, changing the date merely to create a three-day weekend undermined the very meaning of the day, Pinette observed.

“No doubt,” Pinette said, “this has greatly contributed to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”

Pinette called upon Wakefield’s Project 351 ambassador, WMHS freshman Stephanie Curran, to read the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 2019 Memorial Day Proclamation.

Town Council chairman Edward Dombroski brought the greetings from the town.

“We are a proud military community here in Wakefield, with a strong history,” Dombroski said. “Take this very building we sit in today – it honors the incredible accomplishments of its namesake, Commander of two different Unified Commands and four-star General, John Galvin.

“We respect those who have, on too many occasions, borne witness to unimaginable horror in places far from here, yet have demonstrated the boundless selflessness that defines valor,” Dombroski said.

“We need look no further than the Upper Common with prominent memorials to the fallen or Forest Glade cemetery, where American flags proudly fly alongside tombstones today, to see the tributes to those sons and daughters of Wakefield who put country before self, Dombroski added. “Those we lost may be gone in body, but never in spirit.

“In that same spirit of selflessness, let this day serve as a solemn reminder to never take for granted those sacrifices others have made for us, as a community…and as a country,” Dombroski said. “The ever-present memory of those sacrifices will keep us ever-grounded.”

Rep. Paul Brodeur related two recent encounters he has had with veterans. One was a Vietnam vet who recently made his first visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The other was a recent graduate of the Air Force Academy who reminded him of the need for Americans to unite and remember the greater purpose of the country.

Rep. Donald Wong asked those in attendance to remember not just those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, but also their families, who have had to go on with their lives.

Pinette announced that the keynote speaker, U.S. Coast Guard veteran and Wakefield resident Keith Jones had been unavoidably detained. Pinette explained that Jones is the Veterans Outreach Coordinator the Home Base Foundation, and was planning to speak about the work that the Home Base Foundation does.

Pinette stepped in for Jones and talked about Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital program.

As a National Center of Excellence, Pinette noted that Home Base operates the first and largest private-sector clinic in the nation devoted to providing life-saving clinical care and support for the treatment of the invisible wounds to include post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, depression, co-occurring substance use disorder, family relationship challenges and other issues associated with military service.

The WMHS Wind Ensemble performed “Pride of America” a medley of anthems from each branch of the military. As each branch’s song was played, veterans stood to the applause of those in attendance.

American Legion Commander Tom Collins, accompanied by Wakefield Girl Scouts, placed the Gold Star memorial wreath at the front of the auditorium.

Town Council Chairman Dombroski presented Wakefield native and Vietnam veteran William P. Walsh of Greenwood Street with a proclamation recognizing his years of service to veterans of Wakefield and Massachusetts including his service on the Veterans Advisory Committee.

“Thanks for all you have done for our town, our state and our country,” Dombroski said, calling Walsh “the epitome of what a Wakefieldian is.”

Pinette called World War II veteran Gregory G. Rocco up to the stage and presented the 92-year-old with a certificate attesting to the placement of a paver in his honor on the Walk of Remembrance at the World War II Memorial.

Rev. Taylor offered the benediction to close the ceremony.