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Date: 11/13/2019
EAST LONGMEADOW – Standing at a podium in front of the town hall at the Veteran’s Day ceremony in East Longmeadow, Brian Tidlund, American Legion District 3 commander for Western Massachusetts read from essays that three middle school children had written about what veterans meant to them.
“A veteran is someone who has changed America,” Tidlund quoted seventh-grader Anna Marie Ruiz of Clay Middle School. Her sentiment was echoed by the many veterans and officials who were on hand to honor the nation’s service members.
“One thing rings true for all of them – sacrifice,” said Veterans Day Committee Chairman and past Commander of the Italian American Veterans Post 64 Kyle Godding of veterans and their families.
The ceremony began at 11 a.m., marking the 101st anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I. It was symbolically signed in the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month in 1918.
The day began with a short parade from the Gunther-Rowley American Legion Post 293, proceeded down Maple Street, and ended at the Town Hall. The entire route is one-tenth of a mile.
“We may have one of the shortest Veterans Day parades in the country but there’s never a shortage of people who come out,” said state Rep. Brian Ashe who attended the event.
Town Council President Kathleen Hill read a proclamation from Gov. Charlie Baker marking the day and later joined Post 293 Commander William “Bill” Pruyne in laying a wreath at the veteran’s marker on the town hall’s lawn. A second wreath was laid at the flag pole in the center of East Longmeadow’s rotary.
As the crowd dispersed, people said the same five words to many of the veterans they passed, “Thank you for your service.”