2024 Memorial Day Parade and Closing Ceremony

we are honored and privileged to bring you live coverage of the 2024 Memorial Day Parade on Fall River government television frgtv good morning I'm Evan massud along with Pauline McGrath in for Pamela Martin today thank you for joining us on one of the nation's most solemn national holidays Memorial Day our thoughts and prayers of healing are with the gold star fames today here and throughout the United

States in Fall River it's been said many times we hear it all the time that Fall River does it best when it comes to honoring our veterans those who are still with us and those who are sadly not with us and Pauline we've heard it from our mayor Paul cougan we've heard it from the elected officials even from the veterans themselves agree wasn't until this job for me and working so

closely with Pam and our late colleague Phil satino that I truly understood this and and it's it's amazing the work that's done annually for the veterans here in Fall River it it's just it's remarkable it sure is um I think there's 10,000 uh Flags put on some of the graves throughout the city of Fall River as well as numerous um you know ceremonies that took place over the weekend um and we have one individual in

particular to thank for that um gentleman that uh Works tirelessly um Victor farious our flags and officer he's got a great team over there uh as I mentioned 10,000 new flags at all the veterans burial sites what a what an unbelievable task that has to be and it's a 10-day uh task I hear right yeah basically here in Fall River Memorial Day is not just one day it's it really spans back to the Friday Fridays

before um and and we had basically three dozen um wreath Lings at monuments and memorials across the city plus some of the ceremonies that took place as well the formal ceremonies and we'd like to recap that with you um on looking at last Friday it began with the Civil War Memorial ceremony at Oak grov Cemetery which we covered and um and then on Saturday we had multiple as well well there was the Italian-American

War veterans Monument down at B Centennial Park and then we also had the Candlelite vigil for gold star families that's a fairly newer one because it's done at the Vietnam veterans memorial wall uh which opened three years ago we had the grand opening for that so and this candle light I was honored to be asked to sing the national anthem at last year and it was a beautiful ceremony absolutely stunning so um I'm

sorry I had to miss it this year but that one is uh they bring in hundreds of people it's incredible of course and on Sunday there were three additional ceremonies uh the Polish War veterans Monument across from the Blessed Trinity Parish Griffin Park Memorial and Corky row neighborhood and the Rolling Thunder chapter 2 Ride For Freedom which concluded at the Vietnam veterans memorial wall at bar Centennial Park and

just this morning uh our cooworker Gary Le was filming a ceremony at North Park the war on terrorism mon Monument uh ceremony and then just prior to the parade step off the Kennedy Park monument ceremony as well which memorializes Veterans of of all wars so yeah that Monument sometimes goes a little bit hidden because it's right at the start of the Park Drive just after Bradford Avenue but there are names from

all the wars or all the wars represented I should say on that monument at the conclusion of parade today we invite you to stay with us live there's going to be one more formal ceremony taking place in inside the atrium here at Government Center so we're going to stay here live as soon as the final division rolls through we can start we're hearing the honor guard led by far Police Department

they're making their way down the street right now behind us on South Main Street Pauline you mentioned about the 10,000 plus Flags um our flag engrave officer Victor faras truly does an amazing job we've done multiple stories uh with him and gone to Oak Grove St Patrick's Cemetery and amongst other locations here in the city where the flags are placed and Mr farious wanted us to

publicly thank a few of the groups that helped him out this is just a snapshot it's certainly not limited to these few the Boy Scouts the Girl Scouts the fall Young Marines the fall police and fire departments and then various schools and children from the districts now and and if you saw our coverage of the oak grow C uh ceremony at the Civil War Monument last Friday there were about a hundred

students from fanska elementary school and they walked in procession with flags following Mr FIS truck from the fonsica school to the Cemetary to be there for the for the ceremony and it's you know that's so important to for that exposure at a young age to understand that Memorial Day is not just about cookouts and the start of summer you know about that at all and and it's sad that many

people forget that um forget that there are so many families that sacrificed um and you know while people want to perhaps celebrate um the freedoms that we have it is because of of all of the people that um you know fought tirelessly in war and and sacrificed it all well we do want to I want to publicly thank myself here um to thank John Borges is he handled the rundown

this year for the parade and I mean you serve on the committee for the children's Christmas parade planning a parade is no easy feat no matter how big or small um it's a lot of coordination to put a rundown and the divisions together so John actually was just texting me a moment ago with a last minute update so I appreciate John the the constant communication here makes our job a little bit easier here today

we're starting to see the the motorcycles behind us we have our F frgtv and F FRC media crew here collaborating at Government Center so bringing you the sights and sounds looks like Main Street filled up pretty decently it was it was pretty empty uh but as soon as they hear those Sirens it seems like people start to make their way out to see what's happening so this is the honor guard led

by the Fall River Police Department and the motorcycles they tend to lead off almost every parade that we do here in the city be it here Memorial Day veterans day and of course the Children's Parade around the holiday season and we're seeing a young Patriot there and our camera is picking it up flags up and down Main Street flags on the motorcycles as

well you know one of the things with Memorial Day of course it's to honor those who are not with us any longer and um sadly there are far too many war heroes that do not have a final resting place to lay a flag at because they did not make it home the United States is the only country that strives to account for every Missing in Action Service member according to the United States

Department of Defense currently over 880,000 servicemen and women still remain MIAA and that's why we fly the P Mia flag which was designated in 197 7 for over a decade it flew only8 days out of the calendar year but since 1989 mandated by state law it now flies on state and federal buildings every single day of the year as it should 100% there is our fer police honor guard as they cross the

intersection and there is our parade Marshall our Grand Marshall former city councelor longtime City councelor Ray Mitchell and he's driven by there is Linda Pera she fooled me a little bit because she got a new ride um still a convertible but um Linda driving Ray good friends longtime serving City councilors Linda of course currently and there is our our city elected officials and state delegation as well mayor Paul

Coogan SRE Allan Sylvia we also have uh Register of Deeds BJ McDonald I see Laura Simpson City councelor Andrew Roso City councelor Joe CRA city counselor and they're walking just in front of the dery band marching band always fantastic that's under the direction of Julia Clinger she's done an amazing job a high school it's nice to see so many young young people involved in marching EV glad they're growing I'm

glad they growing back because I can tell you when when I was in dery I graduated in 2007 uh we filled a couple buses sure and uh it it was sad to see it kind of wingle down a little bit but they're building back up here are our gold star families multiple cards for our gold star families Bob tarz also had the family of Elaine brager and Christine Landry

that was the VFW Post 486 located at 486 Bedford Street their mission to Foster camaraderie among United States Veterans of overseas conflicts and to serve our veterans the military in our communities and to Advocate on behalf of all veterans

and here are the disabled American veterans known as daav the William S Green Chapter n

there DAV

van that's an interesting vehicle those are called slingshots and we start to see a lot of those as the summer months they're becoming more popular seem than motorcycles honestly I'm sure they're a little bit safer yeah a little bit safer and here do we have the essay winner in that vehicle I believe so we're supposed to have the the Fleet Reserve Association and the sa contest winner Niha Raj she's

from DOA Sherborn High School and here is the PMC dery High School school njrc Under the direction of senior Naval science instructor Lieutenant Commander Derek Randall as well as Naval science instructor chief petty officer William Squires great group of individuals they do a wonderful job they're right across the hall from Fred TV at the high school can't say enough wonderful things about their

program we often hear them doing drills in the hallway and and I mean the another program that's growing back up it seems their numbers continue to improve see the Italian flag the Italian American veterans here and white Mercedes Steve Rice from FRC media helping us out today running the handheld down at the intersection here of Main Street and Sullivan Drive did you know that 14 Italian Americans

received the Medal of Honor for their service wow I did not know that actually Tin Can Sailors just went by as well and now our flags and Graves officer Victor faras in his pickup truck 14,000 that's amazing no 14 a

14 the veterans association of Bristol County their box struck just passing by they're located at 755 Pine Street they offer so much to veterans PTSD support groups art therapy and exercise job search tools legal assistance certification for release from the service to United States and basic care hygiene food clothing and of course companionship and friendship their food pantry is open four days a week you can

ask for Kim Wagner or Ken l

well the babc still in the first division here there's four divisions today and it's the Vietnam veterans Vietnam veterans memorial wall committee that's making their way forward next this was a special project Pauling yes more than 58,000 names of the Vietnam uh military who pass on are listed on this wall in order of date of of their death uh it's very important to pay visit to this place and pay respects

to all of our fallen heroes it's right there on the waterfront for all to see um we're so proud of that project too having you know produced multiple pieces yourself and Pam uh for the committee and um worked so closely with so many people especially committee President Joseph Marshall your Treasurer Jack SGA and directors Bill dear great a Judge Judy Macy and city council number four

judge Joseph Macy all veterans uh Joseph was and Ray ha and uh Bill Demaris Jackson brega Joe Marshall um it was a total effort and of course by Centennial Park is is where the wall is we had we mentioned three years ago the grand opening was this month three years ago which we had live coverage for as well uh well represented our Vietnam vets here is the wall replica that we see in

most of the parades here in Fall River uh this is a separate

float and up next is the USS Massachusetts Memorial committee uh the USS Massachusetts is of course at Battleship Cove it's the official state Memorial to Americans kill were World War toi excuse me uh claimed the lives of more than 400,000 Americans globally a number that's about five times the population of Faller imagine that remains of service menu members continue to be recovered and brought home for

Burial at least half of those lost it SE unlikely to ever be 5 years ago our State lost its last Pearl Harbor Survivor that was staff sergeant George hery he was 98 years old it was a native of Brockton Massachusetts of course here closer to home our Braga Bridge honored and named after memorialized after Charles M bragger who was killed in Pearl he was our City's first casualty of the World War II

conflict the bridge was dedicated 25 years after his passing in 1966 on this Jeep we just saw pass by was Miss Fall River l jwalt and now behind them is Matt zeni the son of Captain Martin M zeni sadly Captain Marty passed away in February of this year he was 102 and I was honored to play his funeral he would they were members of our Parish St Anthony of the desert marinite Catholic Church here in Fall

River um he and his wife Margaret I knew her his aunt Peggy um they were wonderful people and uh good friends of my grandparents we saw them often they were always a stop on Halloween they said make sure you come visit us for trick or treat Captain Martin was amazing and he was um he appreciated what he did for his country he appreciated what others did for this country as well and uh just the

just went by we saw the fall over Young Marines uh we mentioned them earlier they're one of the individuals who helped place all the flags plac Downs Braves throughout places in Fall River and with that we have hit the second division here this is the Case High School Marching Band case Cardinals will let you

listen and here we have the Cambodian dancers the mass as absera dance troop located on quicker Shand street right here in Fall River the goal for them is to instruct students on the elements of Cambodian Dan dance and chamir instruments and we see on their new year as the Fall River fire department is making their way through we see for the Cambodian New Year every year that's one of the ceremonies we cover here at

Government Center and it's really amazing it it it shows you the culture here in Fall River and how many Pam always says it's a Melting Pot and it's very true it's nice to have that diversity 100% engine number five passing by special services here Fall River fire department so many new apparatus um during the time of Chief Lynch over the last 10 years they brought in so many new trucks and they

christened all of them we had so many different ceremonies to put these apparatus into service the follow of a fire department does a lot for this community too the countless events that they hold for her children we've covered them with some of our students at Fred TV it's it's really wonderful to see um get the community involved of course the fire department now led by Chief Jeffrey

bacon the Fall River Police Department we saw earlier uh with the motorcycle led by Chief Paul Goin and now here is Fall River Emergency Medical Services EMS with their freshly painted vehicles and ambulances and service medical command Vehicles all in white now so distinguish the police have primarily black with some white accents the fire department's all red and EMS is white with some blue and the new Fall River

logos they're led by the director Tim olera here in the third division

and coming up we have our camera coming up soon on the Boy Scouts of America troop 15 um they are also located right here in Fall River they promote friendship and life skills through team building activities and badge earnings and did you know that one of the rarest Awards ever given by the Boy Scouts of America is the William T Hornady day award it was created in 1915 to recognize major

contributions to and service in Environmental Conservation Bo Scouts another group that been around forever and I think very underrated what they do and what they teach sure next up in the Mercedes Roadster the Sons and Daughters of Italy led by their president Mario luciola vice president Sue Souza Mario was at the ceremony of course on Saturday evening for the Italian-American veterans in the

monument down at Bicentennial Park you know we talk about the replica of the Vietnam veterans memorial wall which is the only one here in the state of Massachusetts and within 100 miles so we actually being so close to Rhode Island we basically wiped out Rhode Island's opportunity to build one because there certain stipulations and restrictions with how many can you know be present in a certain radius of miles

and but it's not just of course the wall down there while it's it's so big there's EO gima there's gold star there's Korean War there's so many monuments and I know I'm going to miss one of them the point is is as you said Pauline make it a point to go down there the park is beautiful now so much work has gone into it I think it's sort of a

sense of Peace for for the families that had to experience such tragedy so this next group you see JFK is the citizens commission for President John F Kennedy state holiday Incorporated it's a group of Massachusetts residents led by James Coughlin their president and chief spokesperson he actually just appeared a couple days ago on 1420 New Bedford radio wbsm and they're promoting to try

to get a state holiday here in Massachusetts for our native president um and interestingly enough I did not know this this Wednesday two days from now would have been John F Kennedy President Kennedy's 107th birthday we also saw gillet's martial arts just came by they're making their way to the sidewalk they are located at 70 CH street right near McGovern's on the state line for ton Fall River and

then we have Mr J treor with the Middle School musicians and Matt McMullan as well I see him out there it's the middle school marching band Matt was my conductor he got the job at dery when I was still in school and it's great to still see him here in the city and the Fall River Police Department trailing behind with the motorcycles as the fourth Division and final division today comes to a close

Memorial Day parade is usually on the shorter side but the impact still the same a lot of the same groups we see in other parades throughout the year here in Fall River and always nicely done absolutely we have a lot of people to thank for that so we certainly do we thank you of course as well for your viewership at home uh and for always tuning in to Fall River government television your official station here in

the city for City press conferences meetings pray like this and other events like this yes so today and every day we remember those who proudly served our country and especially on this Memorial Day those who are no longer with us may the memory of them from those who pay the ultimate sacrifice be Eternal and our prayers as we said at the beginning prayers and thoughts of healing with the gold star families always

yes so thank you all for watching we invite you to keep it here we thank our crew behind the scenes some great camera shots today my co-host Pauline I'm Evan massud stay with us as we take you inside the government center Atrium for our final Memorial Day ceremony here in

2024 human rights may we be faith ful Servants of the Heritage that has been entrusted to us reverently on this Memorial Day we pay our tribute of respect to those who gave their lives in service of our country we pray that the souls of these our heroic dead may have found perfect rest and reive the crown of an unfading life we humbly acknowledge our debt to them and we ask

for the strength to go on towards the ideals for which they fought and died as they gave themselves to advance the ideal of world peace and Justice may they Inspire our continued efforts towards this same end unite the people of our nation to defend the freedom justice and peace for which they lived and died this we ask in your holy name amen amen at this time we have Theodore Banks

and the Pledge of Allegiance Teddy has a bit of a soft throat today so it will be given to

us right hand on your chest move to the of the United States of America for stand na liberty and justice for all thank you Lucas that was wonderful thank

you from f GTV a wonderful voice of Evan massud will lead us with the national

anthem oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proud loudly we haed at the Twilight last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramp parts we watched were so gallantly streaming and The Rock ET red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet way or the land of the

free and the home of the brave thank you so much okay you may now be seated at this time I would like to ask goldar families commanders of our various uh military groups along with any veteran to please rise and be honored thank you thank you I see some of our commanders didn't even take a seat so they were already standing so I salute you all thank you for your

service words from the mayor of the city of Fall River Paul Coogan um obviously it's a it's a time of great pride in the city of Fall River as we honored veterans over this entire weekend culminating with the parade this morning uh Fall River makes an extraordinary effort to honor the sacrifice commitment and obviously hard work given by all of our veterans to keep this country safe I want to make

sure we acknowledge it 365 days a year but especially on Memorial Day when we single out this group for all they've done to keep this country safe and again I want to thank everybody for coming to all the events over the last three days it's the way for River does things and we owe these gentlemen a tremen and women a tremendous debt of gratitude thank you in putting together the many of the

celebrations that we have the memorials that we have um all of our flags around the cemeteries um all of the waths that are placed on monuments that's done in cooperation with lots of people um Victor farious our flag officer handles a lot of the flags the War veterans Council the Veterans office in cooperation with the city of FL River make sure that all of that is done um I'd like to share with you a few words

from the vice commander of the War veterans Council Bob gynan thank you L my name is Bob gynan I am the senior Vice commander of the fora war council and I am also the vice commander of the Vietnam veterans of of for River during 1968 and 1969 some of the Vietnam War's most difficult years I served I then I I was fortunate enough to return to for River my hometown but every day and uh

respectively on Memorial Day I think about my brothers veterans who never returned to their hometowns on behalf of the all veterans I want to thank every organization every public official and every CI civilian that took time today to remember my comrades in arms that loved America and loved all of you enough to serve in war and make the the year sacrifice thank you thank you I'd like to introduce some of the

people um that are here today starting on this side um BJ McDonald Register of Deeds members of my colleagues on the city council councelor Brad Kilby councelor Andrew raposo councelor Laura Samson and president of the council Joseph Kamara to this side we have Lily Ranken she is the Miss fall rinee and Lily jeswald and the rest of the people will say fita right now I would like to I

know Mr Mayor you know me by now that I know you know I would not skip two of the best state reps and our third state reps sent her regards and apologies for not being able to be here but we have a great state delegation and I would like to introduce you to two of our three members representative Paul Schmid and Alan Sylvia who will do a presentation thank you

Linda uh next week on June 6th will be the 80th anniversary of dday and because of that um re Schmidt and I asked the governor if she would uh present the City veterans with a citation a proclamation uh so on behalf of uh Governor morah Healey and lieutenant governor uh Kimberly Driscoll um we would like to present um City veterans with this uh citation I need my glasses though whereas on the 6th of June

1944 Allied Forces launched the largest Seaborn invasion in history known as D-Day whereas The Valor sacrifice and determination of the Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy France exemplified the highest ideals of bravery and heroism and whereas the success of Operation Overlord marked a pivotal turning point in World War II leading to the liberation of Europe from Nazi cheran and whereas we honor the

memory of the thousands of soldiers who gave their lives on D-Day and countless others who fought bravely for freedom and whereas on this day we airm reaffirm our commitment to upholding the principles of Liberty democracy and peace for which they so gallantly fought and whereas every sixth day of June shall be commemorated as a day of remembrance gratitude and reverence for the heroes of D-Day whose courage and

sacrifice will never be forgotten now therefore I Mora T Healey governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts do hereby Proclaim June 6 2024 to be D-Day remembrance and Allan and I ask each one of you a week from Thursday to pause for a minute and remember that day June 6 which was the bloodiest day ever for the American Military thank you thank

you the parade committee has a group that get together and we try to select a Grand Marshall and this year we've also done a Grand Marshal in morium which is someone who has passed and wasn't recognized um and we felt they should be so this year there was a gentleman who served in the United States Air Force he joined at the age of 18 because he believed that everyone should serve

their country upon return from overseas he was stationed in Oklahoma and while on a three-day pass he met his future wife they returned to his roots in Fall River he worked at the Housing Authority he served on the diamond school board for 10 years and as its chairman for seven he served on the for school committee and the for city council and gave countless hours of volunteerism to our

veterans and our community I introduce you to our Grand Marshal of 2024 Raymond Mitchell

thank you Linda I didn't deserve that introduction but thank you and I need cheaters unfortunately AG is catching up to me when I first started running for office in 1979 my mother gave me some Sage advice she told me if I was to be successful at speaking in public I should t stand tall to be seen speak clearly to be understood and keep it short to be appreciated although there have been

times that I haven't taken that advice today I will try my best to take that heed that advice at this time I would like to thank those individuals on the Memorial Day committee who asked me to be the Grand Marshal of this parade it's probably an honor that I truly didn't deserve but an honor I will always cherish there are so many times I have heard people speak ill of our city for

River Massachusetts I feel for River does not get the the credit it truly deserves and in so many ways many communities throughout our country have two or three ceremonies to honor those who have served this country ESP especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice without their sacrifice the Democracy that you and I treasure would no longer be in for River on Memorial Day we do much more than two or three

events as a matter of fact I have counted 10 events that we have held with the help of so many people who took time out of their busy lives to honor those who made that sacrifice I would like a round of applause and appreciation for those men and women who have taken time out of their busy lives to participate in these numerous events that took place this week in our city the war council in cooperation with

the city put up reads on all the military monuments around our city at each Monument where the wreath was at each Monument a wreath was placed a prayer was offered and Taps were played in memory of all those service men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice our city takes second place to no one in its commitment to our veterans memorial day is actually dedicated to those who didn't make the

ultimate sacrifice let us not forget that and let's not only honor them today but also honor their families who have lost a loved one ladies and gentlemen no matter where I go I stand tall and proudly speak of my home forever forever I love my city and I love each and every one of you thank you so I know a gentleman who died at the age of2 God bless him this gentleman's career in the

United States Navy spanned over 38 years he started out in Great Lakes he was stationed in paba he was in the Naval Academy he commanded two large squadrons and four ships he finished his career as the commanding officer of the Navy Training Center he received so many commendations I would need 10 minutes to name them all but then he was stationed in Newport where he met as he told me the gang from Fall River

and he met the love of his life Peggy in Fall River he served as special assistant to then mayor Carlton bis later as executive director of the for River Housing Authority again he served as chairman of so many committees and he served on many boards he was on the board from the Girl Scouts he was on the board from the United Way he just did so much a gentleman who not only served his

country but served his community I introduce you to his son who quite frankly is just as nice as his dad was our grandm Marshal in memoriam Martin zeni and here to say some words on his behalf if his son Matt Denny Ray I need him too thank you Linda good morning today we remember those servicemen and women who gave so much I'm mad zeni and today I stand here in memory of my father Captain Martin

zeni dad served in the Navy for 38 years entering as a high school graduate he went through boot camp at Great Lakes Illinois his first post after after boot camp was the USS Maryland stationed at Pearl Harbor somehow luckily dad caught the eye of the captain and could quickly answer math questions and other questions the captain thought that my father's talents would be well served

going for additional education got my father transferred to the prep school from the prep school he graduated um from the Navy Academy in three short years after the academy dad served on 11 different ships four as commanding officer two as commissioning commanding officer he also had two stints at the Navy air stations where he could fly basically take off and landings was his real problem but flying

wasn't um he spoke often about being a Navy salvage diver he said that that really set him up for Life attacking problems understanding situations and preparing him for anything that really came at him he commanded two squadrons of ships five ships on each squadron at the end of his career after 36 years he returned to Great Lakes Illinois as Commander Naval Training Center coming full circle from where he

started as a boot he enjoyed retirement for a very short time coming back to Four River in 1977 and got on the staff of Mayor Colton bis just in time for the Blizzard of 78 from there he went on to be executive director for the for for of a Housing Authority sat on many many boards was chairman of the police board was acting veterans administrator was the Lebanese American Veteran um

officer St an's Hospital Advisory board but really what he loved about St an's was the fact that he could volunteer in their emerc room giving back your father's calling me he is tell him I said hi giving back to his community meant everything to him you see Dad was born in Dayton Ohio but Fall River was really his home he had many loves a good cigar a round a golf in

Manhattan but his true love was my mom Peggy his family and his friends the United States Navy and his beloved for River dad enjoyed he helping people and readily and easily gave career advice and help for health reasons about 15 years ago he moved in with my brother and sister-in-law in Florida during our many nightly calls I would have to update dad on what was happening in for

River often asking how's Linda how's the mayor how's the Housing Authority what's going on the last couple years was especially difficult for me my dad was 100% blind very hard a hearing I would ask him how he was doing he never complained always felt grateful he always said that he was blessed we buried dad in February with my mom at the age of 102 in the city he loved proudly wearing

his Navy uniform displaying his service medals and his ribbons my father the captain was more than just a sailor he was my North Star he had strength and kind kindness the captain commanded respect but was always respectful he taught me the importance of community family and love to my father Captain zeni to all our veterans and especially to those who have given their lives in service of our nation you have our

deepest gratitude and respect we remember you today and thank you every day that we live in Freedom thank you thank you thank you

before beginning our closing um I just want to thank some of the people that are here like the forer police department for the honor guard also the forer Vietnam veterans of for River and their rendition of TAPS will be played later but you know what really impresses me this year we have Incorporated so much youth into our celebrations we really have the Civil War Monument was on the 17th and I contacted FICA

school and we had 200 children from that school come up they came and they participated we gave them each a flag we gave them a little card telling them about uh the Civil War and they taught um they taught us a lot uh we had a few that stood together to do the pledge and they learned how to sing God Bless America in the most amazing way and we also had our dery choir who's just

amazing and then father Rob his son hosted the Polish American uh monument and that was yesterday at 8:00 in the morning followed by mass and breakfast but he had his whole youth group there and they read poems and it was amazing um and then today I see that we have our young marines and we had our RC youth participate but our Young Marines do so much and they help us so

much um it's very nice to incorporate the youth and the Fleet Reserve does an essay contest every year year and this year the winner was nerra Raj is Nera here and Nera is going to read us what she wrote come on nerra and I think it's so important thank you honey in the gentle hush of dawn America awakens to a day unlike any other Memorial Day is a day when the sacrifices of countless Souls press

gently Upon Our Hearts urging us to remember to honor and to cherish the freedoms we often take for granted imagine for a moment a world where we couldn't voice our opinions where our dreams were dictated where our very essence was stifled this could have been our reality but because of the Valiant men and women who stood tall in the face of AD adversity we live in a land where

freedom is our Birthright allowing us to breathe dream and live freely as an Indian American my heart swells with pride and gratitude my ancestors have hailed from a different land but the spirit of Freedom the undying belief in the power of democracy Bridges the gap between my dual heritages the brave souls who have laid down their lives for this nation have paved the way for immigrants like my family to dream to

thrive and to call America home Memorial Day is a symphony of gratitude echoing the tales of Heroes who laid down their lives it's a day where we as a nation come together to honor the Fallen it's a day that reminds us that our freedom as beautiful as it is came at a cost the beauty of Memorial Day lies in its power to transcend it's not just about the past it's the beacon for the future it

reminds us that freedom like a delicate flower needs nurturing that the ideals we hold dear are worth defending generation after generation so as the sun sets on the sacred day let's hold close the memories of those who have gone before us let's vow to be worth worthy of their sacrifice to live with purpose kindness and an unwavering belief in the American dream by doing so we ensure that their

legacy lives on not just in history books but in the heartbeat of a nation that will forever be grateful that to me is the essence of Memorial Day and that young lady wrote that all on her own and that was absolutely beautiful now I'll have Lily jeswal sing God Bless America I'm Miss Fall

River s close to it okay God bless America land that I love stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above from the mountains to the Prairies to the oceans white with God bless America my home sweet home God bless America my home sweet home thank you than our closing prayer we have the honor of having Reverend Andy Stinson from the First Congressional Church I invite you to pray with

me Lord of the upward way this Memorial Day as our ceremonies come to a close let us still weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn we pray you to comfort the moms and dads the children and spouses the brothers and sisters the friends and comrades who endure the empty chair as only your Sublime presence can you have collected all their Tears In A Bottle help them feel your presence with

them and your tender hand at work let us as a city and as a nation help in binding their wounds spur us and all the hosts of Heaven around them to be your hands and feet and to meet their practical needs and thank you Lord that you have placed on such as these in our midst to offer such a great sacrifice as those Warriors we raise up this Memorial Day

dwell with you bind up the wounds of war and heal the broken hearts and so we go forth from these devotions make us a great nation yes but more than that make us a good one forgive us for wanting Our Own Way making our own paths often the ones paved with the least resistance forgive us for ignoring the truths that can so easily set us free and Deliver Us from the Mindless quarrels and the

Crusades that lead us nowhere but away from your goodness free us from divisiveness melt our hardened Hearts to love not hate to heal and not debate lend your Eternal blessing in our going out as we continue to honor those who gave the last full measure of Devotion to our nation and let us be ready in our living to do the same as we go forward we pray this in the name of all that is Holy amen

now we'll play Taps and retire colors

thank you all for your participation my name is Linda Pereira I thank you for being here and I ask you one favor go in peace but remember our veterans who died in combat or when they returned home if you see a veteran please I beg of you say thank you feel free to have some coffee and pastry and again thank you for taking time out of your life to support our veterans God

bless you all and God bless the great city of Fall River e