Compiled by The Bedford Citizen
With thanks to Bedford’s Patriotic Holiday Committee and the town’s Veteran’s organizations, a full slate of Memorial Day observances will begin at 8:30 on Monday morning, May 29. The ceremonies will commence at the American Legion / V.F.W. Memorial on The Great Road when the Legion’s Chaplain Jerry Hartmann will offer a prayer and wreath-laying ceremony. Boy Scouts from Troop 194 will assist Brigadier General Frank Magurn. A firearms’ salute and TAPS will conclude the day’s first ceremony.
Don Corey, President of the Bedford Historical Society, members of the American Legion and the VFW will participate in the next ceremony at Shawsheen Cemetery. A Memorial Wreath will be tossed into the Shawsheen River by V.F.W. and American Legion Commanders to honor in honor Bedford’s US Navy Veterans.
At 10 am, the ceremonies will continue at the Old Burying Ground on Springs Road. Capt. Jim Ringwood of the Bedford Minutemen Company will introduce Lori Eggert of the Bedford Historical Society. Eggert will speak briefly about the Old Burying Ground; Capt. Ringwood will read a roll call of Bedford’s Revolutionary War Veterans buried there, and Terrence L. Parker will give a brief history about the ex-slaves who fought in the Revolutionary War. Bedford Minuteman Company fifers will play “Amazing Grace” and the Minutemen will fire a musket volley, followed by TAPS played by trumpeters from the Bedford High School Band.
A tribute at Bedford High School’s Fallen Veterans Memorial on Mudge Way will immediately precede the parade. Stepping off from the High School at 11 am, the parade will stop at the World War I Memorial on Bedford Common for remarks by Lee Yates and a prayer to honor the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I.
The parade will proceed along The Great Road, arriving at Veterans Memorial Park around 11:15 am. Ceremonies at the Park will include a welcome by Patriotic Holiday Committee Chair Paul Purchia as well as an invocation and patriotic songs performed by the Bedford High School Band.
Dignitaries offering remarks will include Selectman Chair Margot Fleischman, Bedford’s State Senator Mike Barrett State Representative Ken Gordon. Brig. Gen. Magurn (USA NG) and Lt. Col. Ferland (USAF) will offer featured addresses, and a BHS student will read her winning essay “Memorial Day – Then and Now?” Joseph Piantedosi will read the roll call of Bedford Veterans who have died during the past year, and poppies will be placed on each of the plaques honoring the thirteen Bedford men killed in action in WW II, Vietnam, and Iraq.
Veterans who have died since last Memorial Day include: WWII: John B. Dodge, Lawrence F. Dutton, Leon F. Fairbanks, Sheldon W. Field, John E. Gates, William G. Lauten, Roger E. Rivet, John J. Russo, Bertram Schurin, Arthur F. Shea, Bertram R. Silver, Chester Smith, Edward C. Stickney, Edward C. P. Thomas, Theodore C. Tremblay, Max E. Underwood, and Richard Volpicelli. Korea: William T. Barnett, Donald J. Bernstein, William C. Byam, George B. George Jr., Richard A. Fryer, Aime J. Gervaise, Joseph L. Ignazio, John B. Jaillet, Robert J. Marrigan, Richard T. Salter II, Robert V. Schoorens, and Jerry Wasserman. Korea & Vietnam: Richard B. Dyer. Vietnam: William F. Burke Sr., Stephen B. Elder, Gerald R. Flynn, Louis R. Gentile, David T. Hopkins, Henry C. Isnor, and George A. Lewis. Peacetime and Unknown: John P. Gill, Harold M. Heggestad, William Lynch, Albert Rivet, David J. Saulnier, Sr., and Clifford Stacy.
The ceremony will continue with the annual tribute to Bedford Veterans Killed In Action: WWII: Frederick Genetti (US Navy), George Vetterman (US Army), Alfred Kace (US Army), Gregory Muldoon (US Army), Leslie Neville (US Navy), John E. Ross (US Navy), Charles Ryan (US Army), and Ralph Hume (US Navy); Vietnam: Dennis M. O’Neill (US Army), Terry M. Reed (USAF), and Robson W. Wills (US Army); Iraq: John D. Hart (US Army), and Travis R. Desiato (USMC).
The ceremony will conclude as the Grand Marshalls Lou Ennis, USCG and Charlie McCaffrey, USN raise the flag from half-staff to the strains of the Star Spangled Banner. CMSgt Pepper (USAF), will offer a benediction, the Bedford High ROTC team will present a Rifle Salute, and TAPS will sound.
In case of heavy rains, the outdoor ceremonies will be canceled and the Veterans Memorial Park observance will be moved to the auditorium at Bedford High School.
Memorial Day Quick List from BeTC, the Bedford Town Calendar on The Bedford Citizen
- Memorial Day Ceremonies at Bedford’s Old Burying Ground
- Memorial Day Ceremonies at BHS Fallen Veterans Memorial
- Memorial Day Ceremonies at the American Legion
- Memorial Day Ceremonies at Veteran’s Memorial Park
- Memorial Day Parade Steps Off
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