Members of the military and veterans place wreaths at each statue signifying different wars throughout American history.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — City leaders and the veteran community honored Veterans Day with an annual ceremony at Veterans Memorial Plaza on Nov. 11.
A memorial ceremony was first hosted at 10 a.m. at the Saint Stan’s school.
Then at 11 a.m., a wreath-laying ceremony was hosted at the Veterans Memorial Plaza. U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield) joined Chicopee Mayor John Vieau, Chicopee Department of Veterans Services Director Stephanie Shaw and other state and local officials.
For the ceremony, members of the military and veterans placed wreaths at each statue signifying different wars throughout American history. The Veterans Memorial Plaza includes statues for each American war, including the Civil War. Each statue annotates the number of Chicopee residents lost in the war.
“Veterans Day is special for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the sacrifice that we witness by those who are sitting here to my right and standing to my left. It’s a unique holiday because unlike Memorial Day, we honor the Veterans Day individuals because of what they did on a certain occasion,” Neal said.
Neal also acknowledged the PACT Act that was passed in Congress and encourages all veterans to take advantage of it.
“It has transformed veteran services. It allows individuals to challenge the veteran’s administration based upon some of the injuries that took place. It’s worth while for you to examine,” Neal said.
State Rep. Shirley Arriaga (D-Chicopee) also talked about the focused importance the state is putting on finding ways to help veterans and their families, including the PACT Act and HERO Act.
“Here on the state level, we passed the HERO Act and that is brining more resources, more programs and more funding to help veterans and their loved ones. If you have questions, concerns how this is going to help you and your loved ones, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are forever indebted, we thank you for your selflessness, your dedication and your love for our country. God bless our veterans, god bless our troops and god bless the United States of America,” she said.
Immediately following the wreath laying, a veterans luncheon took place at the Knights of Columbus where several awards were given out including the Charles H Tracy Award to US Air Force Veteran Alfred Kendall, Patriotic Business of the Year Daigle’s Truck Master and Patriotic Organization of the Year to the Chicopee High School Air Force Junior ROTC cadets.
The Charles H. Tracy Award is awarded to a veteran who has gone above and beyond for his or her volunteerism to the veteran community. It is named after Sgt. Charles H. Tracy, a Civil War soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for two acts of bravery.
Vieau talked about the city’s commitment to its veterans.
“It’s wonderful to see so many people here because the city of Chicopee is and always will be a veteran proud city’ the home of over 4,000 veterans and to celebrate this holiday is something special in Chicopee. To our veterans, we owe you more than what words can say,” Vieau said.
There are also over 11,000 Chicopee veterans that have passed on with approximately 2,500 buried outside the city of Chicopee and 850 that rest in different locations overseas.
State Sen. Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow) said Chicopee was one of many Veterans Day ceremonies he attended or was attending in Western Massachusetts that day, but wanted to make sure to honor as many as he could and let them know the work he and the state is doing to help.
“As I took office in the Legislature, the role of veterans means a little bit something different now for me. It means what can I do as a legislator to support our veterans in every way possible; to ensure that the commonwealth of Massachusetts is the number one state to be a veteran in because of how we take care of people who return home from our fields of battle and serving this nation,” Oliveira said.
The ceremony included a POW/MIA ceremony, musical performances and lunch.
