Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
WESTFIELD — For 56 years, Westfield Middle School has observed Memorial Day with an assembly inviting area veterans to be recognized for their service, and this year’s assembly on May 20 was part of the grand tradition. Local veterans, many from American Legion Post 124 in Westfield and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 872 in Southwick gathered in the library, where they were teamed up with students to be escorted into the auditorium.
Among the dozen or more veterans who attended was Steve White, American Legion Post 124 adjutant and bugler, who was escorted by his eighth-grade grandson Nicholas Battaglia, a member of the band who also played the taps echo during the assembly.
Cindy Lacoste, a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer, who works at Mestek, told her student escort that each stripe on the arm of her jacket represents four years of service. She has 22 years of service to the U.S. Navy.
Troy Henke, district commander of VFW Post 872, who was accompanied by his daughter Katherine, 2, was joined by Sterling Elmer, vice commander of Post 872, Curtis Elmer, Matt Egerton and Mark Goodniss.
Organizers for the event were Patrick Dufraine, a STEM teacher, retired U.S. Air Force colonel and keynote speaker, librarian Sarah Scott and Assistant Principal Jennifer Leveille, who all welcomed the veterans. Dufraine was also keynote speaker in the assembly.
The veterans entered the auditorium behind the student color guard, and were shown to their front row seats as the eighth grade band, conducted by Ryan Emken, played a patriotic selection. The seventh and eighth grade chorus, directed by David Gomes, sang the National Anthem for the veterans following the Pledge of Allegiance.
Masters of Ceremony Max Gallagher and Madison Hess welcomed the veterans to the assembly. Madison called it a 56-year tradition at the school, and said the school was proud of having Parker Memorial Park, which recognizes fallen soldiers from every war, across the street.
“We are here today to honor those who have given the supreme gift of their lives so we can be free,” she said. “This is one of the best days in my school year,” Dufraine said, adding that he still has memories as a student at Abner Gibbs and in South Middle School. He said, “Sitting in those seats, I had a sense of Memorial Day.”
Dufraine told a moving story from his days in the service. He said In April 2013, already a teacher, he was called up with very short notice. He said in three weeks he went from being a tech teacher to a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force.
He said normally, Wi-Fi was a wonderful real-time connection for the soldiers back home to the people they loved. But, during one attack on the base, on June 21 that year, a large explosion hit a nearby the base, followed by more.
After the last explosion, Dufraine said he got off the floor of his tent, donned his vest and helmet and ran to the Emergency Operations Center, where he led the Air Force side. He checked the points of origin and impact, and realized the bomb hit on a road he had driven about an hour before.
The four U.S. Army personnel who were wounded were transported to the hospital by the Security Police, not a good sign, Dufraine said. Two passed away on the road, and two were brought in for immediate surgery, but could not be saved.
“I could tell that news had made an impact on those present; the fact that four members of our base had succumbed so suddenly hung heavy in the room,” Dufraine said.
A major from Public Affairs recommended to Dufraine that he take the Wi-Fi down until the families could be notified by an in-person visit from an official notification team, usually an officer, chaplain and another member. “We didn’t want word getting to these families through online posts, given how fast word spreads,” he said.
Dufraine said it took longer than expected, and he was asked repeatedly why the Wi-Fi was down for so long, which he brushed off to technology not always working, even under the best of circumstances.
He said he attended the fallen soldiers ramp ceremony as they began the long trip home.
“It was the saddest I felt during my time in Afghanistan,” he said.
Now, every morning, when he puts the Stars and Stripes up on the flagpole in the front of the school, he pauses for a period before saluting it, thinks about those four soldiers and thanks them and others that he knew for their service and the ultimate sacrifice they made.
Dufraine said those who didn’t come home should be remembered. He asked the students during their day off on Memorial Day to pause at 3 p.m. and think of all those who gave their lives serving this country.
Leveillee then asked the veterans in attendance who were in the front row to stand and be recognized as she read their names. Afterwards, the veterans were invited for refreshments in the library conference room, where they took a group photo with their student escorts.
