A Resident's Guide to Memorial Day in Medfield

Memorial Day is a day to remember military veterans who died in service, men and women who gave up their lives they were living as well as the life they would have lived had they returned home.

“Whatever they could have been, can never be," said Veterans Service Officer Ron Griffin. "People we will never know, knowingly put themselves at risk so others might not have to.”

Griffin said that surviving veterans understand fully that “it could have been us being honored on this day” had a random chain of events put them “in the wrong place at the wrong moment.”

“If only we can find a moment in our life to reflect on those lives that never will be," he said. "One moment each year, is all that is asked … When you attend any event, you are publicly re-affirming that you are not willing to forget their sacrifice.”

Medfield will have several moments to honor their veterans this weekend, starting with a , the former Hannah Adams Pfaff High School. Over the years, the plaque – which specifically honored those Medfield students who attended the school and went on to serve in WWII – lost its luster and letters and names began to fall off. 

The new plaque will be located outside for all to see and will hang behind the columns at the top of the steps.   

“We can never have enough plaques to honor Medfield’s veterans,” said Anthony Centore, a military veteran and a member of the American Legion in Medfield. 

“My convictions about honoring veterans stems from my service in the US Navy,” said Centore.  “Later in life, I learned about my father-in-law's service flying B-17's in WWII. He shared his harrowing missions and how many fellow veterans lost their lives. What made it so striking to me was that he and most other GIs were in their early 20's with their whole life ahead of them.”

Centore said his father-in -law would attend annual reunions of his old unit, making several trips back to his old base in England, and on those trips, British children would seek out the American flyers to ask them questions and get their autograph.

“They were treated like rock stars,” said Centore.  “Ever since then, I try to show respect and aid to those veterans of WWII.”

Centore learned of the deteriorating state of the veterans’ plaque two years ago when he met Nancy Kelly-Lavin whose father – William “Bill” Kelly (who will assist at Friday’s ceremony) – is listed on the plaque.   

“That's when I joined with other committee members to ensure the plaque’s replacement,” he said. And the group has been fundraising to cover the cost of replacing that veterans’ plaque and others in town.

Memorial Day Activities Include:

• Friday, May 27, 9 a.m., Dale Street School:  Dale Street students will hold their annual in-school Memorial Day exercises that will include their Veteran parents and relatives.  Also invited to attend are all the living World War II veterans whose names adore the replacement plaque that sits outside the school’s gymnasium. This event is not open to the public.  
• Friday, May 27, 10 a.m., Dale Street School steps: Re-dedication of a World War II plaque at Dale Street School featuring comments from veterans whose names are on the plaque. The Public is invited to participate in this event. Parking is limited and shuttles will start at 9:30 a.m. from the Medfield Counsel on Aging.
• Monday, May 30, 9:45 a.m.: Memorial Day Parade starts on Janes Avenue and proceeds down Route 109 to Baxter Park to arrive at 10 a.m.  At Baxter Park. Former Medfield Police Chief, William Mann, will lead a brief ceremony and Town Historian Richard DeSorgher will give the Memorial Day Address that will highlight Medfield’s participation and sacrifice during the Civil War.

After the ceremony, the parade will reassemble and march down Main Street to Vine Lake Cemetery where it will make brief stops to honor those who died at sea and then at the Veterans Grave lot. 

The parade will continue out of Vine Lake Cemetery, down route 109 to West Street, and into the American Legion Post where “one last tribute is made for those who so gave their life for our country at the flagpole in front of the American Legion Post,” said Griffin.

Refreshments (prepared by the Son’s of the American Legion) will be served to all parade participants inside the American Legion Post on Peter Kristof Way. 

According to http://www.usmemorialday.org, Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873 and by 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war. It is now celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday in May.

This year’s Memorial Day Committee includes Griffin, Bill Mann, Frank Iafolla, Donna Dragotakes, Robert Meaney, William Kinsbury, Al Manganello, Ann Thompson, and Michelle Doucette.

Donations to offset the cost of the Memorial Day activities can be made to the “Memorial Day Gift Account” and can be dropped off at the Town Administrator’s office or mailed to Veterans Service Officer Ron Griffin at the Town Hall.