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Date: 6/1/2022
AGAWAM — During an assembly at Doering School last week that honored veterans ahead of Memorial Day, Navy veteran Duane Goddard became emotional at times.
“I felt myself getting emotional when I heard things that I hadn’t thought about in a long time,” said Goddard. The Vietnam veteran from Hampden was invited by his granddaughter, fifth grader Ana Goddard.
Goddard was among nearly 30 veterans who participated in the middle school’s “Bring a Vet to School” on May 20. There were separate assemblies for fifth and sixth graders, but the program was the same for both grades.
The school’s nearly 600 students heard from several speakers about the importance of honoring veterans who sacrificed their lives. Following the assemblies, veterans visited classrooms to talk with students. They shared their military experiences and answered questions about their service.
Christopher Lanski, director of veteran services for Agawam, kicked off the assembly. The former master sergeant in the Marine Corps said he’s proud to work with the Agawam Veterans Council to connect veterans to the community.
“They do so much every year — whether it’s putting flags down at the graves for our fallen veterans so they will be remembered, putting flags up on Main Street or going out and helping to deliver meals to those in need.”
Lanski also described the significance of each of the 13 steps to folding an American flag as Aldo Mancini and Patrick Asta-Ferrero II demonstrated each step on the auditorium stage. Mancini chairs the Veterans Council and Asta-Ferrero is one of its members.
The flag-folding demonstration gave students a visual lesson about the special meaning each fold has when honor guards at military funerals meticulously fold flags that once draped a veteran’s casket.
Lt. Col. Robert Engell, acting assistant secretary of homes for the state Department of Veteran Services and interim administrator for the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, told students that Western Massachusetts not only has one of the state’s two soldiers’ homes, but one of the state’s two veterans cemeteries is in Agawam.
“It’s awesome and gorgeous — they present our veterans with dignity and honor,” said Engell. “I recommend that all of you visit it at some point. If you’re able to go there for the Memorial Day celebration, it’s an amazing event — it will touch you to your core.”
Agawam’s oldest and youngest veterans, Dr. Louis Rigali and Kiana Stone — 70 years apart in age — also were honored at the ceremony. Paul Barabani, president of the Friends of the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Agawam, presented both with certificates to thank them for their military service.
Rigali, 95, was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945 and served overseas with Gen. George Patton in Germany during World War II. Following his discharge in 1948, he went on to become a dentist, practicing from 1957 to 2017.
Stone, 25, immediately enlisted in the Air Force reserves following her graduation from Agawam High School in 2016. She was assigned to Westover Air Base in Chicopee and continues to serve her country.
In his closing remarks at the assembly, state Sen. John Velis called the assembly a “beautiful event” he was proud to attend.
Velis called Memorial Day one of the country’s “most sacred days.” A major in the Army reserves who served in Afghanistan in the summer of 2018, he recalled a mural of three U.S. service members that he saw when leaving Bagram Air Base. The mural also had a message to veterans ending their tours of duty: “Live a life worthy of their sacrifice.”
“Those are words that all of us can live by, not just on Memorial Day, but every day,” Velis said. The message — seen only by those fortunate enough to be leaving — was that not everybody was coming home. “For many of us, they were our friends.”
Dick Lanier, who was invited by his granddaughter, fifth grader Ella Terramaga, served in the Air National Guard at Barnes Airport in Westfield from 1972 to 1978. He told students one of the most important things he learned was discipline.
The Agawam resident recalled one day when his foot locker was inspected by a drill instructor.
“He looked in inside to see if everything was in order. He even checked my soap dish. After closing my locker, he threw it the length of the barracks.”
According to Lanier, the instructor found a small spot on the soap dish.
“We were told to keep everything spotless. The point was discipline. It was a soap dish that day, but the next day it could be an aircraft engine — and people could die.”
It’s a lesson he never forgot and took with him during his career in the aerospace industry.
“I learned discipline, I learned how to follow orders and I learned the value of teamwork,” he said.
Goddard said he joined the Navy to avoid being in a foxhole in Vietnam. But when he became a medical corpsman, he wound up on the battlefield helping wounded Marines.
“Many died. I tried to save as many as I could, but some were too badly wounded to survive. I learned to focus on the ones I helped instead of the ones I couldn’t.”
One of those Goddard saved was a tank commander. A mortar shell ricocheted off his helmet, lodging just outside his ribcage.
“It thought it was a tumor at first, but it sounded hollow when I tapped it. I took an X-ray with a portable machine, discovering an unexploded mortar shell. To keep as many people as possible from getting hurt if it exploded, I separated him from others until a doctor could operate to remove the shell.”
Sixth grade teacher Kathleen Goyette-Jediny has coordinated the program for the past eight years. She said the program is usually held in observance of Veterans Day, but she had to cancel the program in 2020 and 2021.
“I didn’t want to wait until November, so I changed it to Memorial Day this year,” she said.