Virtual Programs set to Observe Veterans Day in Bedford

November 9, 2020

At least two programs will be available remotely in observance of Veterans Day on Wednesday, Bedford’s traditional program at 11 am and Rep. Seth Moulton’s Veterans Town Hall at 7 pm.

Bedford’s Virtual Veterans Day Observance at 11 am on Bedford TV

Col. Katrina Stephens, commander of the 66th Air Base Group at Hanscom Air Force Base 

The commander of the 66th Air Base Group at Hanscom Air Force Base will be among the speakers at Bedford’s virtual Veterans Day ceremonies on Wednesday, November 11 beginning at 11 am on Bedford TV.

Col. Katrina A. Stephens, who was installed in June, will be making one of her first public appearances in the town, albeit online.

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The ceremony can be seen live on Comcast channel 99, Verizon channel 40, or Bedford TV’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/bedfordtvma). A rebroadcast is scheduled for 3 p.m. on the same day.

Col. Stephens, who entered the Air Force in 1996, is a career personnel officer. Her group supports the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom, as well as MIT Lincoln Laboratory, tenant organizations, and base housing. The group also provides direct support to some 200 units and 130,000 retired military personnel in New England and upstate New York.

Other confirmed Veterans Day speakers include State Rep. Ken Gordon, Select Board Chair Ed Pierce; Jon O’Connor, commander, American Legion Post 221; and Al Chisholm, senior vice commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1628. Paul Purchia, who chairs the town Patriotic Holiday Committee, will serve as master of ceremonies.

Singer Kevin Daugherty of the staff at Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Hospital and members of Scout Troop 194 leading the Pledge of Allegiance have been recorded at Veterans Memorial Park for integration in the TV production. Also taped was the playing of “Taps” by Julia and Lorene Simoneau.

Veterans Town Hall via Facebook Live from Abbott Hall in Marblehead at 7 pm

Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) Courtesy image, all rights reserved

Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) will hold his annual Veterans Town Hall event online this year to continue an annual tradition he started so that veterans can meet other veterans and bond over their stories of service, and so the public can better understand the cost of war.

The Town Hall will be webcast on Facebook live.

“Starting the tradition of Veterans Town Halls is one of the most meaningful things I’ve had the opportunity to do as a Member of Congress,” Moulton said. “Recent vets like myself are fortunate to return home to a grateful nation, but with so few serving these days, most Americans aren’t quite sure how to relate to us. These town halls help bridge the gap between vets and the communities we fought to serve. Hearing these stories is downright powerful, and I hope you’ll tune in on Wednesday.”

Moulton held the nation’s first Veterans Town Hall on Veterans Day 2015 in Marblehead’s historic Abbott Hall.

The idea for Veterans Town Halls was conceived by the author Sebastian Junger in his book Tribe. In a 2015 Vanity Fair article, Junger highlighted the challenges of post-traumatic stress among veterans. He suggested “making every town and city hall in the country available to veterans who want to speak publicly about the war.”

More information about the Veterans Town Hall initiative is available online on Moulton’s Congressional office website, Moulton.house.gov, and Sebastian Junger’s website, http://www.sebastianjunger.com/vets-town-hall.

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