Chicopee salutes veterans from the Civil War to Iraq
Date: 11/16/2010
Nov. 17, 2010By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
CHICOPEE -- With the sound of "Taps" and a volley of gunfire, the contributions of Chicopee veterans were noted once again.
About 30 people gathered at the Veteran's Plaza on Front Street Thursday for the city's annual observation of Veterans' Day.
Representatives of the city's veterans' organizations laid wreaths at the monuments for the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars. Members of the Chicopee Air Force JROTC unit color guard accompanied them.
Next to the Civil War monument was a temporary cross of red flowers with five white carnations, noting the five Chicopee natives who have lost their lives in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mayor Michael Bissonnette noted that Chicopee has lost more people to the conflicts in the Middle East than any other community in the state.
Veteran Del Barabani Sr. said that once the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are over, he expects the city would erect a monument to those residents.
Kimberly Babin, director of Veterans' Services said the Middle Eastern wars "have exceeded all time expectations" and noted there are now a new group of veterans who will need services.
Col. Robert Swain, commander of the Air Force Reserve's 439th Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, Westover Air Reserve Base, said Veterans' Day should be a time of celebration for what veterans have accomplished for the nation.
"In every hour of every day, there are men and women who put themselves in harm's way on our behalf," Bissonnette said.
