37,000 Flags for Memorial Day in Boston

In 2015  I heard about the flag display of these flays and knew I had to make a trip to the Boston Common to see all 37,000 flags. A moving sight, and I hope you get an idea from the pictures below. 

Memorial Day isn't just another holiday.

This garden of 37,000 flags was planted in memory of every fallen Massachusetts service member from the Revolutionary War to the present. These flags will be on display through Memorial Day weekend for your observance and reflection. Please remember and honor the ultimate sacrifices of our local heroes.

For more information about the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, please visit www.massmilitaryheroes.org

Each flag represents a fallen service member; please respect the display.

Two Soldiers Connect

This post was originally posted in 2006. I am reposing it again because this true story is about a death, guilt, family, distant cousin connection to me and a stranger writing me for help. The stranger doesn't do genealogy, but she managed to find me.

Two Soldiers Connect

There have been many wonderful stories on Memorial Day about our American soldiers. This one happened recently, and I had a part in it, so I am rather emotional writing about it. I am just afraid I am not doing this story true justice. There are four people involved; Jo, Bob, Gary, and Larry. Jo is the sister of Bob (soldier, still living, and who held dying soldier and buddy Gary in his arms). Jo is trying to locate Gary's brother as a favor to her brother Bob. The story began on May 02, 1967 in Vietnam when Gary died in the arms of Bob. Last month, I received a letter from Bob’s sister Jo.

What would you do if you received a letter like this, "Barbara. My name is Jo ___. My brother (Bob) served in the service with Gary. They were good friends and he, Bob, wants to connect up with his (Gary) family. Could you contact me. JO"

I wrote back, and the outcome was the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It turns out that Jo wrote me because I had the brothers, Gary and Larry in my genealogy program. The brothers are my 5th cousins. Jo googled their names and came across my information.

From Jo, I learned, "My brother Bob, served in the Vietnam War with Gary. He was there when he died. They were really close friends. I think they trained together and went over together. He talks about Gary after all these years and still grieves over his death. He grieved terribly when Gary died. He has been trying to find his family for years. He asked me to help find them. He knew that Gary was from Detroit, Mich. My brother was from Ohio. My brother has Agent Orange. He got it in Nam. He is under constant medical care from the VA."

There were very few facts, but I was up to the challenge. Once I realized this was a real life situation of a soldier trying to find another soldier's family, this was my priority until all the pieces came together. Was I ever in luck Or I should say, we were all in luck.

I located Larry, via internet, but didn’t want to write him, because if this was a true event, I thought an email stating, “I know who the person is who held your dying brother” would be too painful. Fortunately, Larry and Gary’s cousin, also found via internet, is a movie director / producer, so I wrotePamela Peak for information and to see if the story was true.

An immediate reply came from her, and yes, the story was true. Being a writer in addition to her director / producer roll, Pamela had a lot to say. “WOW! I was 10 when Gary died and we, as family, always wanted even more clarification about his death. Gary was such a patriotic person and received many more medals than what we could comprehend based on what was told to the family about his death. I attended many of those medal ceremonies.” Pamela and I wrote many letters and everything came together.

From Jo (the sister of Bob):
“My brother Bob was only about 17 or 18 when this happened and Gary was only a couple years older. Bob said he cried for his mother when he was dying and that memory was burned in my brothers mind as he was so close to our Mom. What happened in the last minutes of his death was important to him and helped him get closure also.”

A week or so later, I received this message from Jo. “My brother and Gary’s brother talked a long time on the phone and my brother got some closure on Gary's death. My brother held Gary in his arms when he died. They were best friends in Vietnam. My brother has grieved over his death for years and talking to Gary's family has helped them all. The war was really bad for my brother and when he came home he was a mess. I am glad we finally found someone who knew Gary that he could talk to about him. We wish to thank you for all the help you gave us in finding this family. Barbara, again we thank you so much. You were a life saver for my family."

From Pamela (the cousin):
“Of course you can write about this on your blog. I am a writer and I totally want you to write about it. In fact, I'm due to give a speech at the foot of the Polar Bear Monument on Memorial Day in Troy, Michigan, just a short step away from where Gary is buried. The speech is about my film dedicated to the Polar Bears, and I will now be telling this incredible story about how you contacted me and how we found Bob so he could deliver his communication after all these years. It's quite a story isn't it? (I still have chills and tears in my eyes as I am writing this).”

“Thank you for all the work you do and for being the wonderful person you are to put us all in communication. Please let me know when you write about this on your blog. I would love to see it and I love knowing that others will now share this incredible story and pass it on.”

Bob, Larry, Jo, Pamela this is for you, and for Gary who will forever be in our hearts. Pamela, I am sorry I waited so long to write this, it was extremely difficult, but at last, I quote you, “I love knowing that others will now share this incredible story and pass it on.”

Note: This was originally posted, May 30, 2010.

Lowell Remembers Memorial Day

IN MEMORY

OF ALL

BRAVE MEN

AND WOMEN

FROM LOWELL

WHO SERVED

AND ALL THOSE

WHO GAVE

THEIR LIVES

IN VIETNAM

ARMY

DONALD L. ARCAND

WILLIAM T. CALLERY

JOHN J. CARAVILLE

PETER TSIROVASILES

PAUL L. STEWART

BRUCE R. BAXTER

ROBERT L. HARRISON

RONALD E. FORGET

RICHARD C. ST. ARMAND

WALTER J. LEMIEUX

PETER J. BOUCHARD

WILLIAM J. HODGE

JOHN SCOTT KEENAN

ROBERT J. LAFLAMME

MARINES

RUDOLPH H. LEFEBVRE

JOSEPH L. VALLEE

PETER N. SAMARAS

ROBERT F. BIGELOW

RICHARD J. KELLEY

RONALD A. SKELTON

ROBERT W. McCLUSKEY

HENRY M. SARMENTO

Artifacts in LMA Hall of Flags is a detailed blog by Lowell historian, Dick Howe that he posted on September 25, 2022.

All memorials are in front of the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Trees obstruct full view of the building, so I'll take another photo in late fall. Below are some of the events to be held, including William Shatner on June 11th.

37,000 Flags for Memorial Day in Boston

Fortunately, I heard about the flags on the evening news and knew I had to make a trip to Boston to see them first hand. The Boston Common is huge, and after walking quite a bit, I finally asked several people if they had seen the flags, they hadn't. Soon, I did, and what a sight. A moving sight, and I hope you get an idea from the pictures below. 

Memorial Day isn't just another holiday.

This garden of 37,000 flags was planted in memory of every fallen Massachusetts service member from the Revolutionary War to the present. These flags will be on display through Memorial Day weekend for your observance and reflection. Please remember and honor the ultimate sacrifices of our local heroes.

For more information about the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, please visit www.massmilitaryheroes.org

Each flag represents a fallen service member; please respect the display.

World War I Monument -- Chelmsford, Massachusetts

World War I Monument at Vinal Square

North Chelmsford, MA

To the Glory of God

and in

Grateful Memory

of the

Men of Chelmsford

who made

the supreme sacrifice

in the World War

1917 - 1919

Wagoner

Alberton W. Vinal

Enlisted

Co. K 6th Inf. Mass. N. G.

Transferred

101st Eng. Train. 26 Div. U. S. A.

Apr. 13, 1917.

Killed in Action at Boucq, France

June 19, 1918.

Corporal

George R. Quessy

Enlisted

Btry. B. 2nd F. A. Mass. N. G.

Transferred

Stry. F 102nd F. A. 26th Div. U. S. A.

Apr. 16, 1917.

Killed in Action at Gloveaux, France

Nov. 1, 1918.

Lieutenant

Egbert F. Tetley

Commissioned

Aug. 15, 1917.

Assigned to

Co. C. 47th Inf. 4th Div. U. S. A.

Killed in Action at Bazoghes, France

Aug. 10, 1918.

Chelmsford, MA Vietnam Memorial and Park Photos

I knew a lot of men who were either drafted or enlisted into the Vietnam War. Some were classmates, some were co-workers of mine, when I was in the Army, and one was a close neighbor. I always knew the neighbor died in action, but little did I know there was a memorial dedicated to those from Chelmsford who died. I probably pass by this park twice a month, and have never stopped until two weeks ago. I was a little taken back to find my neighbor's name, John F. Bettencourt, on this memorial.

 IN

HONOR

OF THOSE

FROM

CHELMSFORD

WHO SERVED

****

IN

MEMORY OF THOSE

WHO FELL

****

THE VIETNAM WAR

1959 - 1975

John F. Bettencourt

18 Dec 1946 - 16 Nov 1967

U.S. ARMY

Kenneth R. Hughes

9 July 1946 - 28 Mar 1969

U. S. ARMY

Peter V. Blazonis

9 Sept 1948 - 18 June 1969

U. S. ARMY

James A. Doughty

11 Oct 1948 - 28 Aug 1969

U. S. ARMY

 Memorial on the left.

World War I memorial in the middle, end of park. Will be posted tomorrow.

Lowell, MA Names all Those Mustered Out in the Civil War

During today's visit to see an exhibit in Lowell, I was reminded about the blog post I wrote a few years ago about, "The Lexington of 1861." And, upon wondering where the names came from on the below Roll of Honor, I remembered a huge project a few genealogy friends and I undertook. We entered over 3,500 names into a data base. Please see how you can view the names (below).

The exhibit is called,

Lowell and the Civil War

First Blood: The Lexington of 1861

Since this is Memorial Day weekend, I decided to post these two photos and include my post of two years ago where I explained the story of, "The Minutemen of 1861  --  First Soldiers to Die in Civil War Were From Lowell" The names above are those who enlisted, The names of those who died are listed on large plaques hung high in the Lowell Library. (See photos below.)

Many years ago, a few of us in the local genealogy club went through huge ledgers and transcribed 3,525 names of Soldiers and Sailors mustered from Lowell during the Civil War (1861 to 1865). We entered their information into a data base several of us had on our computers. I believe I did two books. The writing was beautiful, the only problem was the books were huge and heavy.

The 3,525 names can be seen HERE. Please take a peek if your ancestor lived in the Lowell area, or England, Germany or any of the New England states. In other words, they came from all over. Scroll to the end as there are many death dates and locations included.

Photos taken years ago at the Lowell Library of those who gave their lives in war. I hope to retake pictures and perhaps type up a list.

Two Soldiers Connect

There have been many wonderful stories on Memorial Day about our American soldiers. This one happened recently, and I had a part in it, so I am rather emotional writing about it. I am just afraid I am not doing this story true justice. There are four people involved; Jo, Bob, Gary, and Larry. Jo is the sister of Bob (soldier, still living, and who held dying soldier and buddy Gary in his arms). Jo is trying to locate Gary's brother as a favor to her brother Bob. The story began on May 02, 1967 in Vietnam when Gary died in the arms of Bob. Last month, I received a letter from Bob’s sister Jo.

What would you do if you received a letter like this, "Barbara. My name is Jo ___. My brother (Bob) served in the service with Gary. They were good friends and he, Bob, wants to connect up with his (Gary) family. Could you contact me. JO"

I wrote back, and the outcome was the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It turns out that Jo wrote me because I had the brothers, Gary and Larry in my genealogy program. The brothers are my 5th cousins. Jo googled their names and came across my information.

From Jo, I learned, "My brother Bob, served in the Vietnam War with Gary. He was there when he died. They were really close friends. I think they trained together and went over together. He talks about Gary after all these years and still grieves over his death. He grieved terribly when Gary died. He has been trying to find his family for years. He asked me to help find them. He knew that Gary was from Detroit, Mich. My brother was from Ohio. My brother has Agent Orange. He got it in Nam. He is under constant medical care from the VA."

There were very few facts, but I was up to the challenge. Once I realized this was a real life situation of a soldier trying to find another soldier's family, this was my priority until all the pieces came together. Was I ever in luck Or I should say, we were all in luck.

I located Larry, via internet, but didn’t want to write him, because if this was a true event, I thought an email stating, “I know who the person is who held your dying brother” would be too painful. Fortunately, Larry and Gary’s cousin, also found via internet, is a movie director / producer, so I wrotePamela Peak for information and to see if the story was true.

An immediate reply came from her, and yes, the story was true. Being a writer in addition to her director / producer roll, Pamela had a lot to say. “WOW! I was 10 when Gary died and we, as family, always wanted even more clarification about his death. Gary was such a patriotic person and received many more medals than what we could comprehend based on what was told to the family about his death. I attended many of those medal ceremonies.” Pamela and I wrote many letters and everything came together.

From Jo (the sister of Bob):
“My brother Bob was only about 17 or 18 when this happened and Gary was only a couple years older. Bob said he cried for his mother when he was dying and that memory was burned in my brothers mind as he was so close to our Mom. What happened in the last minutes of his death was important to him and helped him get closure also.”


A week or so later, I received this message from Jo. “My brother and Gary’s brother talked a long time on the phone and my brother got some closure on Gary's death. My brother held Gary in his arms when he died. They were best friends in Vietnam. My brother has grieved over his death for years and talking to Gary's family has helped them all. The war was really bad for my brother and when he came home he was a mess. I am glad we finally found someone who knew Gary that he could talk to about him. We wish to thank you for all the help you gave us in finding this family. Barbara, again we thank you so much. You were a life saver for my family."

From Pamela (the cousin):
“Of course you can write about this on your blog. I am a writer and I totally want you to write about it. In fact, I'm due to give a speech at the foot of the Polar Bear Monument on Memorial Day in Troy, Michigan, just a short step away from where Gary is buried. The speech is about my film dedicated to the Polar Bears, and I will now be telling this incredible story about how you contacted me and how we found Bob so he could deliver his communication after all these years. It's quite a story isn't it? (I still have chills and tears in my eyes as I am writing this).”

“Thank you for all the work you do and for being the wonderful person you are to put us all in communication. Please let me know when you write about this on your blog. I would love to see it and I love knowing that others will now share this incredible story and pass it on.”

Bob, Larry, Jo, Pamela this is for you, and for Gary who will forever be in our hearts. Pamela, I am sorry I waited so long to write this, it was extremely difficult, but at last, I quote you, “I love knowing that others will now share this incredible story and pass it on.”

Note: This was originally posted, May 30, 2010.