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Date: 11/9/2023
AGAWAM — Agawam’s annual Veterans Day ceremony is at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Veterans Green in front of Phelps School, 689 Main St., Agawam.
The ceremony will start with an introduction by Aldo Mancini, chair of the Agawam Veterans Council. The council will then raise the flag. Kaylee Ottomaniello will sing the national anthem and Mancini will say the Pledge of Allegiance. Following that, Pastor Mark McCormick will say a prayer for veterans. Invited guest speaker William Sapelli will give his last Veterans Day speech as mayor.
At 11 o’clock, Veterans Council members will interrupt the ceremony to toll the bell in the park 11 times. This is in honor of the World War I ceasefire, which took effect at 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918.
The Veterans Council will also lay wreaths at the bell tower, the flagpole, and each monument at Veterans Green. The monuments honor residents of Agawam who served in different wars. Agawam Veterans Services Officer Christopher Lanski said his office is working on installing a monument for the War on Terror. They are currently gathering names of those who served from 1990 to today.
The ceremony will also include a firing detail by the American Legion, a performance of taps by Gabriel Rua and Nicholas Guyuen, a benediction by McCormick blessing the veterans, and a performance of “God Bless America” by Linda Turner.
Lanski said the town usually tries to honor a special guest during the ceremony. This year, there won’t be one, as “things were delayed that [Lanski] had no control over.” The tradition will resume next year, he said.
Though he is a veteran himself, Lanski said he doesn’t see Veterans Day as a time to celebrate himself. Rather, it’s about fellow veterans, their family members and their widows.
“Those that come out and attend the ceremony, it really shows the support and the recognition of these veterans that they maybe didn’t get when they returned home,” he said.
Lanski shared a story from his service in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009. When he was at the airport in the United States, returning home, he saw people holding signs, clapping and cheering. What stuck with him was that some of the people clapping were Vietnam War veterans. He said he thinks often about how veterans of that conflict were treated when they returned home.
“It’s a time to honor those that answered the call of duty to protect our nation but came home and were disrespected for their service,” he said. “Being able to present this ceremony is a great honor, and I do it for them. Anytime I can give them recognition, I do.”
Lanski emphasized his support for military spouses. Service members, he said, will be away on deployment for months or a year at a time. Families often have to move every few years, sometimes overseas, and will have to pull their children in and out of schools, where the child has already made friends.
“I salute them,” he said. “I know they’re not on the front lines, but their support to our nation’s service members ... the sacrifices that the spouse makes is incredible.”
In case of rain, the ceremony will move indoors to Agawam Junior High School, 1305 Springfield St., Feeding Hills.
The day will start at 7 a.m. with a march by veterans groups on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge, which runs between Front Street in West Springfield and Bridge Street in Agawam. There will be a prayer, followed by words from the mayors, if they would like to speak. West Springfield will lay a wreath on the bridge, followed by an invited guest throwing Agawam’s wreath into the Westfield River. The event will end with a 21-gun salute by the American Legion firing squad. Spectators are welcome to observe.