‘We stick together’: Veterans urge unity on Memorial Day

ATHOL – Memorial Day ceremonies, which were to take place at Highland Cemetery, were instead moved indoors Monday due to inclement weather. Still, the rain and gray skies failed to dampen spirits of the more than 100 veterans, first responders, and residents who gathered in Memorial Hall at Athol Town Hall to honor those who perished in America’s wars over the past 249 years.

Deacon Bryan Lagimonier of the North Quabbin Catholic Community offered the invocation, which was followed by the singing of the National Anthem by Liz Hume.

Master of ceremonies Scott Hume, president of the Athol Veterans, then introduced Brig. Gen. (Ret.) William Meehan, who was to have been the grand marshal for the annual Memorial Day parade. Meehan, a 1956 graduate of Athol High School, served two tours each in Vietnam and Germany. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1990 and has lived in Athol with his wife, Jeanne Dunlap, since 1993. Among other honors, he is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal.

Athol High School junior and Boys State candidate John Blanchard, Jr. read the original order from Civil War General John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, which established what was first known as Decoration Day in 1868.

The keynote speech was given by World War II U.S. Navy veteran David Bramhall. For three and a half years, Bramhall served as radar operator for the attack cargo ship USS Rolette. A graduate of Boston University, he taught for six years at Athol Junior High School before becoming principal of Riverbend and Pleasant Street schools. After a stint as a school administrator in Connecticut, he served for 19 years as superintendent of Orange Schools. He moved to Phillipston, where he has served on the Selectboard.

Bramhall told the Memorial Day audience the story of Tom and Alleta Sullivan of Iowa, whose five sons enlisted in the U.S. Navy with the advent of World War II. The couple wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to express concern for their children after they hadn’t heard from any of them for quite some time. All five were serving aboard the USS Juneau.

When the Sullivan brothers were enlisting for service, they were asked why all five were signing up for the Navy. “We stick together,” was the reply. On January 12, 1943, Bramhall continued, Tom and Alleta received a letter of condolence from the president, informing them that all five of their sons had died when the Juneau was sunk by a Japanese torpedo on Nov. 13, 1942. Since their deaths, the Navy has commissioned two ships the USS Sullivan. The original, a destroyer, is docked in Buffalo, New York. The second, a guided missile destroyer, is still in service.

Echoing the motto of the Sullivan brothers, Bramhall urged all in attendance to try to put aside the differences which so divide Americans this Memorial Day. “I’m thinking today,” he said, “that we live in a difficult and kind of tempestuous atmosphere. But I would hope that as we go about our daily lives as Americans, we would say to ourselves, ‘We stick together.’”

Following Bramhall’s address, the Gettysburg Address was read by Athol High junior and Girls State candidate Pal Vyas. The Women’s Auxiliary then placed a wreath, after which taps was played. Liz Hume then led the gathering in the singing of “My Country Tis of Thee,” and Deacon Lagimonier offered the benediction.

Before the audience was dismissed, Scott Hume, read the poem “In Flanders Fields,” written during World War I by Canadian physician Lt. Col. John McCrae, who was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier. McCrae himself would die of pneumonia shortly before the end of the war.

Hume also thanked several veterans organizations for their participation in Memorial Day events. They included Athol American Legion Post 102, Marine Corps League Pequoig Detachment 1168, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 340, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 46, American Veterans Post 793, and the Northeast Quabbin Veterans District.