5.29.2023 Battleship Memorial Day Ceremony

good afternoon honored guests veterans ladies and gentlemen and most importantly our gold star families who are here with us as we honor their loved ones on this most sacred day of remembrance on behalf of the USS Massachusetts Memorial committee it is my honor to welcome you to this very special place as We Gather to remember those brave men and women who not only answered the call

of our nation but made the ultimate sacrifice in its defense I would like to thank the Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 207 who join us every Memorial Day to recognize our veterans in particular those killed in action during the Vietnam War I would also like to thank all who have partnered with us today including vva chapter 207 mayor Coogan Lieutenant Colonel David tumongen the Fall River

Young Marines our bugler Cassandra Tompkins Somerset troop 21 and City councilor raposo for those of you who have not attended a Memorial Day ceremony with us in the past a note we will be firing our five-inch guns at this time please stand for the national anthem please remain standing for the invocation by Cantor Richard Wahlberg chaplain of the Fall River Police Department years

thank you

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almighty God creator of the universe hear our prayer today our country remembers the military personnel who served in the armed forces especially those who made the Supreme sacrifice in defending and preserving our nation's freedom for their Devotion to duty for their willingness to endure hardships for the special bond they shared with those whom they served with we give you thanks as we today remember and honor our

Nations veterans we again resolve their Fair service should not have been in vain what they gave us is beyond our power to repay may we as citizens of a Nation founded upon faith in you stand firm in our resolve to keep the peace and freedom that others have given their lives for we bless the gold star families and we bless all those today who are here to pay homage to those who have given their

lives for this great country we bless our mayor Paul Coogan and our government we bless all of our police and firefighters Sheriff's Department First Responders and all the heroes that are amongst us today Lord may your presence be constantly with us and may we all live to witness the vision of our prophets Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation neither shall men learn more anymore for all men

both great and small shall know the Lord amen

be seated at this time it is my honor to introduce Don Albert from the Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 207.

thank you Megan

on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 207 we thank you for being here today this marks the 32nd year the vva and the battleship Massachusetts Foundation have conducted this Memorial ceremony to honor the 36 County 36 Bristol County Massachusetts residents who gave their lives in the Vietnam War and they over 1 million 200 000 men and women who have given their lives in the defense of our country and

to preserve World Peace and to publicly acknowledge to all gathered here the sacrifices of their families the gold star families

Memorial day has been the remembrance of the Fallen those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and this took place in 1868 the country was shocked by the loss of life during the Civil War the war to end slavery and that later on in 1868 three years after the Civil War General John Logan issued the proclamation issued order 11. and that was the first Memorial Day was observed on May 30th 1868 150

55 years ago in the order General Logan set forth no form of ceremonious prescribed but posts and comrades were in their own way arranged such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances May permit and may I add in Fall River we are so fortunate that our circumstances include this great Memorial's height the battleship Massachusetts General Logan went on to add in the order if other eyes grow dull

other hand Slack and other Hearts cold in solemn Trust ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of Life remains as remains within us today your attendance today is a public display that those who follow will not forget the patriotism and valores of those who fell in battle the servicemen we remember today came from all walks of life but they had one thing in common love and loyalty to this country

Your Presence at this ceremony and in other ceremonies throughout Memorial Day weekend is a tribute to their nobility of Spirit In unflinching Courage made in the beliefs that others in another part of the world could one day enjoy enjoy the same freedoms as they did our attendance here also is a reminder to others that safeguarding our nation is a serious Duty with heartbreaking but necessary consequences

the men and women who had their lives taken to preserve our way of life deserve to be remembered your attendance is a show of gratitude for their sacrifice the ultimate sacrifice those we honor today in the 5 58 282 names listed on the Vietnam memorial today say we leave you our deaths give them meaning your presence today gives their sacrifice meaning and delivers a powerful message to the dead and living a wife

they are not forgotten

I'd like to add over the 33 years that we have been doing this ceremony we have been supported by the naval war college and it and it is again today my privilege to introduce to you our guest speaker Lieutenant Colonel David tamasha Colonel tamajan is a graduate of the Naval Academy in 2003 he was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps he has served as a field artillery officer in a number

of commands his most recent operational assignment was Italian Commander of 211 Marine regiment he is here with his family today and I'd like to present to you Colonel David to imagine

well good afternoon ladies and gentlemen uh thank you very much for the opportunity to be here uh as was mentioned my name is the technical David tomage and I'm currently a student at the naval war College uh and I'm very honored to have the opportunity to be here with my family and most importantly with all of you let me Begin by thanking everyone for coming out to attend this ceremony as

was mentioned this is how we keep the memories of our loved ones and our those that have gone before Us Alive I'd also like to thank the USS Massachusetts Memorial committee and Battleship Cove for organizing this event and allowing all of us to gather here I would like to extend an honored welcome to the gold star families who it may be in attendance today you honor us with your presence and by

keeping the legacy of your loved ones alive you know Memorial Day is often associated with the start of summer and leisure activities that come along with nice weather in much of the United States but today is much much more than that and it evokes a wide range of emotions for those of us who serve for our veteran communities and for the families of our service members is intended as a day of solemn remembrance

a day of reflection the Day Of Heartache a day of pride a day to tell stories to our children about family members and friends who willingly served and a day to reflect on those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of our nation it is not always easy to remember because we are drawn to the pain of our loss but it's important to remember in a share because it keeps the memories of those individuals alive

just as importantly it's important that we gather together on days like today and recognizing the loss of those we love is not experienced alone we see the sacrifice of many families and we are comforted in knowing that the memory of the Fallen is recognized by our entire community and our entire nation today we remember those who went before us we remember those who face down tyranny and terrorism and we pay respect

to those who we have lost in the family as they leave behind our nation has memorials and cemeteries around the globe that serve as a monument to the heroic and selfless Deeds of those who served our nation with their whole being today many of those sites will be visited not just by Americans but people of every nation and Creed who recognize the sacrifices of American Service members on behalf of their foreign

Nation flags and flowers will be placed in the headstones of individuals whose lives are so much more than a name and a date and prayers will be said in many languages to memorialize their sacrifice to walk amongst these cemeteries is powerful one cannot help but feel an overwhelming sense of humility when you see the white headstones laid in perfect Arrangement stretching across Green Fields

to understand the span of time that those headstones represent in our nation's conflicts to see the names from the Revolutionary War all the way to the global war of terrorism it is a powerful reminder that freedom isn't free the men and women of our nation who join the military following the Attacks of September 11 2001 were cut from the same cloth as the young men from this area

who answered the call to join and fight for a fledgling country with a yet untested government in 1776.

there is no difference to the Courage the selflessness or the desire to protect the individual to their left and right on the battlefield between these Generations our nation continues to commit to the ideals of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness For All Mankind our nation continues to stand as a beacon on the hill for Freedom across the globe and our nation commits our most precious

resource this endeavor our young men and women thus our youth continue to raise their right hand and commit to a life where defending our nation comes with Incredible responsibility and sometimes incredible sacrifice I do not know what the future will bring what foes our nation will face but I do know that wherever that future occurs and whatever that foe looks like there will be outstanding young men and

women of this nation ready to defend our way of life just as there have always been Patriots ready to answer the nation's call and defend our democracy I stand in awe of those who have gone before us and of those who will come after us we owe them our greatest debt of gratitude and so I'll end today where I started by thanking you for coming out today remember our fallen Warriors your attendance memorializes our

nation's fallen and keeps their stories alive may God bless this great our fallen service members and may God bless this great nation thank you before I introduce our next speaker I just would like to make a few remarks uh I've lived in Fall River about 40 years and have traveled around the uh country and I must say the city of Fall River takes extraordinary steps to preserve the sacrifices made by our nation's

servicemen and women we have monuments all through the city and they're well taken care of we have the Marine Corps wall the Iwo Jima statute and many other monuments just a mile away and we have this great complex here with the Kennedy and with the submarine and the battleship and the support that the city of Fall River and it's leaders the city council and it's a representative of given us it's enormous

and I just want to thank from the bottom of my heart and the chapter members the great job that they have done over the years and hope that they continue doing it I just don't see anywhere in the United States we have this type of resource and I'd like to represent uh present to you today the leader of our city mayor Coogan who gives some remarks well it is it is a tremendous Memorial

Day weekend in Fall River we've had a number of events and I appreciate the kind words because Fall River most certainly does take its veterans and all they gave to this country seriously as mayor of Fall River it's both an honor and a privilege to stand here today and pay tribute to all of our veterans both our fallen heroes and some of our active duty service members as well I want to thank you all for coming

here today to honor the men and women who sacrificed everything to serve our nation our veterans faced unimaginable challenges leaving behind their families to defend the freedoms we all cherish we owe them a debt of gratitude because of the physical and emotional hardships they had to face Fall River has a very very rich history of patriotism our city has sent his citizens to battlefields everywhere our

Vietnam veterans memorial wall and our irajima Memorial and Bicentennial Park as long as the battleship are a testament to the respect and recognition that the city has for our veterans not only do we stand here today to honor those who served our country but we want to give recognition to the family and friends of our veterans the families of our veterans both those those who are here today and those who

have tragically suffered the loss of a loved one Bearer unique special burden our community should always offer support and appreciation to those families as a city and a nation we have a responsibility to carry on the legacy of those who fought and continue to this day to fight for our freedom in Fall River we're extremely fortunate to have individuals and organizations dedicated to supporting our veterans and

their families provide resources and a sense of community to those who served us but our gratitude should not be limited to just Memorial Day as we continue to pay tribute to our veterans who are still with us and those we have lost I want to thank everyone for coming out today and wish everybody a happy healthy Memorial Day and please never forget our veterans thanks again here at this time in our ceremony we will

honor the 36 servicemen from the greater Fall River area who answered the nation's call to service and went and harms me and made the ultimate sacrifice we will call the name of the servicemen to be honored the ship's Bell will be told when the name of the service bin is called I would ask that a family member a friend or a member of the audience to come to the container of carbonations to my right

one million two hundred thousand Fallen servicemen and women from all our knee from all our nation's War by placing a bouquet in the river after we have done the carnations ceremony I would ask that you stand that'd be oh that's that you stand during the placing of the bouquet and for all our servicemen that we've lost in the wars and remain standing for the following 21 gun salute and then that will be

followed by Taps and closing prayer I will now ask say that the gold star family member Brenda come to the podium for the reading of the names

thank you oh wait

good afternoon everyone should I please have the family members for Richard Almeida U.S Marine Corps sister Deborah first cousins Brad David and Deborah Barwick

Michael Constantine United States Army Sister Evelyn foreign

sister Arlene

Paul default United States Marine Corps

that would do prayer United States Air Force

Edward Furtado United States Marine Corps

Donald Gagnon United States Marine Corps

Lewis Gagnon Jr United States Air Force brother Robert Gagnon

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Gaspar United States Marine Corps Sister Barbara

Donald Johansen United States Air Force

Ronald F Lake United States Marine Corps

Lawrence lausanne United States Air Force

Michael Medeiros United States Marine Corps

Gilbert pixoto United States Air Force

Daniel Perry United States Marine Corps

Stephen J Rego United States Marine Corps

Richard Rodricks United States Air Force Sister Pauline is here

Alfred W Santos United States Marine Corps brother Robert Is Here

manual a stores United States Marine Corps foreign

United States Navy Robert Tavares his brother

Joseph Fiera United States Army

Norman Fontaine United States Air Force brother Joe he was from Westport

Andre letesa United States Marine Corps

William K Gardella United States Marine Corps

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roderick's United States Army

hand wheel cruisingo United States Navy his son Brian granddaughter Sarah and Emily

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J Rose United States Marine Corps

Russell V Almeida United States Marine Corps

Cleveland F Bridgeman United States Army

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Cohen United States Marine Corps

Robert a derosius United States Air Force

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Wayne Jane Sylvia United States Marine Corps

Karen and Beckett United States Marine Corps Linda and Mallory Beckett

and my father Gilbert Cavallo who was killed in Vietnam 1968 when I was four my name is Brenda and my daughter's here my daughter Mandy and my my father's great-grandchildren Ruby and Gabriel we also have Adam here joining us

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thank you thank you so much I would ask that you stand now you're not already standing and our Color Guard Commander Richard benepedes will place a bouquet of flowers in the Taunton River for the 58 286 names on the wall and for the approximately one million 200 000 servicemen lost in all of our Wars

now if you remain standing for the gun salute

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for Christmas may the Lord bless you and keep you may the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you and be gracious unto you may the Lord lift his face unto you and Grant you peace amen

ladies and gentlemen this concludes our Memorial Day ceremony thank you so much for coming to be with us today and thank you once again from a Grateful Nation to all of our gold star family members in attendance thank you

thank you