Gamache, Carello learn to dance

Apparently, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
To raise money for a charity aiding military families, two retired city veterans are taking ballroom dancing lessons so they can take the stage without too much embarrassment next month at a gala performance at the Hartford Convention Center.
Former Bristol Veterans Council President Tim Gamache, who is learning to foxtrot, said “a couple of old warhorses” agreed to begin taking lessons in the spring for the “Dancing With Our Heroes” production that pairs veterans with dance instructors.
Gamache and Dave Carello have been going weekly to the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Middletown to learn from instructor Raquel Gomez.
Gamache said she’s been patient with the pair, who started off “very heavy-footed and plodding across the dance floor,” and turned them into something approaching real dancers. Read full story here.
Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Veteran seeks to honor taps-playing trumpeter, former Mayor Frank Nicastro

A city veteran who has championed many projects on Memorial Boulevard said he has one last monument in mind. Al “Chops” Cianchetti said this week he would like to see a 4-foot granite bench carved to honor former Mayor Frank Nicastro for playing taps at the funerals of more than 4,000 veterans during more than half a century. Read full story.
Here is an MP3 link to Nicastro playing taps.
Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

White House defense liaison to speak in Bristol Sunday

Press release from Mayor Art Ward:
On Sunday, May 30, 2010, a special breakfast will be held at the American Legion Post #2 at 9:00 am with the guest of honor being Michele S. Jones. She is a female veteran who will be speaking to youth groups and female veterans about her service in the military and her role as Defense Liaison to the White House. The 6^th Annual Bristol Veterans Council Memorial Day Weekend is dedicated, this year, to female veterans. The breakfast is open to all female veterans in the City and any youth groups that would like to hear her speak. If you are interested in attending, please contact the Mayor’s Office at 860-584-6250. After the breakfast, the exhibits and other events will open on Memorial Boulevard. If you would like more information on the event, you can find it on the City of Bristol website at www.ci.bristol.ct.us.

Michele S. Jones was appointed as the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense White House Liaison on July 20, 2009. She is responsible for the management of the Department of Defense staffing, recruitment, vetting and clearance process for political personnel, and boards and commission appointments. She serves as the principal DoD contact with the Presidential Personnel Office, White House Military Office and is the principal DoD liaison for the White House Political Affairs Office, White House Intergovernmental Affairs and the President’s Council on Women and Girls. Ms. Jones is responsible for special projects as determined by the Offices of the President, Vice President, First Lady and other White House agencies. She coordinates with White House staff, Members of Congress, senior DoD officials, and top officials in other agencies. Additionally, she conducts the final review and approval of all Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Agencies, Army, Navy and Air Force experts and consultants.

Ms. Jones served as the ₉th Command Sergeant Major (CSM) of the Army Reserve from October 2002 through August 2006. She retired on March 1, 2007 after 25 years of service in both the active and Reserve components. As the CSM of the Army Reserve, she was the chief advisor on all enlisted soldier matters. She was an advocate for Army Reserve enlisted soldiers at all levels within the Army, Department of Defense, Congress and the media. She served on multiple councils, boards and testified before congressional committees and subcommittees that made decisions, recommendations and legislative changes affecting soldiers and their families.

She distinguished herself as being the first woman selected as class president at the United States Sergeants Major Academy (Class 48), the first woman to serve as a division CSM, and culminating as the first woman to serve as the CSM of any of the Army’s components, active or Reserve. Prior to her retirement, she held the highest Noncommissioned Officer position of any woman in the Army.

A career Soldier, Ms. Jones held many positions of leadership from squad leader, section leader, Platoon Sergeant, First Sergeant and Command Sergeant Major. Some of her career highlights include assignments to ₇₈th Division, (Training Support), Edison, NJ; United States Army Special Operations Command (Airborne Troop Program Unit), Fort Bragg, NC; United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) Fort Bragg, NC; 82~ Airborne Division, Fort Bragg; ₄th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, CO.

She has served during every major contingency operation including - Operations Desert Shield/Storm, Restore Hope, Provide Comfort, Joint Endeavor and Nobel Eagle.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Civil War memorial eyed for Boulevard

Here's another story by reporter Jackie Majerus that you shouldn't miss:
To ensure that Bristol’s Civil War dead are never forgotten, there’s an effort under way to erect a new monument in their honor on Memorial Boulevard.
Led by Peter Imperator, the ad-hoc committee of local seniors is trying to raise funds for the monument in time to have it dedicated Memorial Day 2011.
“Our mission is to put a monument on the Boulevard — a new one,” said Imperator, who, like some others on the committee, is active with the Bristol Veterans Council.
Click here for the full story.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Veterans Day in Bristol

As old soldiers read the names of those who left Bristol for war during the past century and never returned, the audience at the annual Veterans Day ceremony remained hushed save for a few suppressed coughs and the whispers of antsy children.

The names, said clearly and carefully, one by one, echoed through the historic, slightly tattered auditorium at Memorial Boulevard Middle School.

“The greatest honor you can give our veterans is to remember them,” said Lori DeFillippi, a former Marine who hosted the annual gathering.

With every passing year, there are fewer who can remember the young men who headed off to battle and vanished forever in the jungles of Vietnam, the snowy mountains of Korea, the blasted beaches of Pacific atolls, the hedgerows of Normandy and scores of other bloody locales whose names cascade through time.

Since the doughboys answered their country’s call in 1917, 232 men from Bristol have perished while serving in the military, the last of them more than 35 years ago.

They never got the chance to swap war stories at the American Legion, to see children and grandchildren grow, to watch the passing of time as daffodils danced in the spring and the leaves fell in the fall.

But they made it possible for their community -- and their nation -- to carry on in freedom and prosperity, as speakers emphasized.

In Bristol, which has the largest veteran population in the state, officials take pride in treating military men and women, past and present, with honor.

“I’ve never seen veterans treated so well and with such respect as in Bristol,” said Spc. Kristen Masiero-Carter, who trains troops for the U.S. Army Reserve’s 405th Combat Support Hospital.

Masiero-Carter, the keynote speaker, said that after joining the Army in 2006, she worked in a military hospital helping burn victims who had returned from the Middle East.

Seeing what they go through, she said, taught her that no matter how bad a day she has, it could be worse.

The ceremony featured students from Chippens Hill Middle School singing the National Anthem and “God Bless America.”

A troupe from Reach for the Stars Academy of Dance performed to a sad song about a veteran found by Santa Claus sleeping on the floor of a small apartment. It got a standing ovation from the 200 people attending.

Veterans got recognition, too, as they stood with others from their branch of the service. About 80 got to their feet as former members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force.

“It made me cry a little,” said Nancy Santino, a-15-year-old from Waterbury who came with her grandparents. “You don’t think most of the time about all the troubles people have had to give us what we have today.”

Veterans should get what they deserve

Mayor Art Ward told a crowd gathered for the city’s annual Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday that it was “very sobering” for him to read on the front page that morning how the U.S. Veterans Administration was failing some veterans.

Other news stories that talked about homeless veterans and the struggle to come to grips with the consequences of the Agent Orange sprayed in Vietnam also stung, the mayor said.

“That is just wrong,” said Ward, who served in the U.S. Marines in Vietnam and was wounded there.

The host of the city’s Veterans Day ceremony, Lori DeFillippi, who also served in the Marines, said, “Sometimes a veteran’s biggest battle is when he comes home and has to fight his own government.”

Ward said that for veterans “service is never over. It is always with us.”

But when the troops return to their communities, he said, the nation should follow through on its promises to the men and women it sent into harm’s way.

“It’s the country’s responsibility to honor its commitments to its veterans,” Ward said.

They shouldn’t have to keep fighting daily “to get the services and the benefits that they have truly, truly earned,” the mayor said.

All too often, Ward said, veterans return home only to find they still have to “stand up and fight” to get their due from the country they served.

Ward said people should read the stories in the papers and let them sink in.

Then, he said, they need to call their congressmen, pigeonhole their state lawmakers and tell those in power to make sure veterans are not ignored.

“There’s this voice out there that has to be heard -- and we’re bringing that forward,” the mayor said.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Veterans Day honors many who sacrificed for all

Written for Veterans Day by Lori DeFillippi of Bristol:

Veterans Day is the day when the service of those men and women who honorably performed their duty in the military service by fulfilling their commitment to the call of duty with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, is duly recognized by the United States of America. Some gave the supreme sacrifice, many suffered the horrors of war, and others have carried both the physical and emotional scars of those wars for the remainder of their lives. Many, many more have served most honorably both here at home and across the globe, protecting all that this nation stands for.

Today, as the war on terrorism continues, we have a new generation coming home from battle seeking the compassion of a grateful nation. Returning, as many before them had, with physical and psychological scars, years of rehabilitation, and life altering transformations. Different leaders here, and in Washington have different visions on how America can best pay its gratitude to Veterans. All too often people forget and take for granted the freedoms we have today and forget the sacrifices that were made for our precious freedoms. However, the families & friends of those that died never forget.

This country and each of us should be deeply indebted to these individuals for their devotion to the preservation of our form of government, our freedoms. As a means of demonstrating our extreme gratitude for their unselfish service, it is incumbent upon us all to recognize the significance of Veterans Day. Please take an hour out of your busy lives to attend a Veterans Day ceremony in your town. Bring your children, your grandchildren, or a friend. Visit the monuments in your town. Explain to your children that our monuments are more than just stone. Educate them on the extraordinary acts of courage by the names inscribe on the monuments. Expound on our principles, our values, and our heritage, and why so many men and women are willing to give their lives, and have given their lives, to protect these values. Teaching our youth about our past is so vital to their future. This Veterans Day make a promise to yourself, to your family, and to our Veterans - remember them.

Lori DeFillippi

Veterans Educational Services

2009

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Colapietro organizes expo for seniors, veterans

An informational exposition for seniors and veterans is likely to draw hundreds of area residents to Bristol Eastern High School this month.
“I’m pretty excited to see it happen,” said state Sen. Tom Colapietro, the Bristol Democrat who organized it.
“I expect to see a good turnout,” said Colapietro, whose 31st District includes Bristol, Plymouth, Plainville and a piece of Harwinton. “People enjoy it and it’s free.”
The August 26 expo, which will feature at least 40 informational booths from private and government agencies and companies, is in its second year.
Colapietro said it’s back “basically by popular request.” He said he intends to make it an annual event because it has shown its value to seniors and veterans in the region.
Some of the senior living facilities in the area are expected to bring busloads of residents, Colapietro said, in order to take advantage of the chance they’ll have to talk to experts in so many areas.
Representatives from various organizations – including Bristol Hospital, the state Department of Social Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, the state Commission on Aging, the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, the Bristol Veteran’s Council and the Plymouth Senior Center – are expected to be on hand to field questions.
Bristol Hospital and the Social Services department will provide health screenings for diabetes, balance, and other conditions, the senator said.
A veterans’ bus and information booth will have answers for those wondering about veterans’ benefits.
But other booths will have experts who can help with questions on elder law, home energy efficiency, Social Security and other common issues for seniors and veterans, Colapietro said.
All area seniors, veterans, and their families are welcome to attend. Lunch will be provided, he said.
The expo runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol native badly hurt in Afghanistan fighting

A Bristol native on his third wartime assignment was badly injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last week.

Sgt. Joshua Bouchard, who joined the U.S. Marines five years ago, lost part of a leg and suffered severe back injuries, according to his aunt, Sandra Ouelette of Bristol.

Two other Marines in the vehicle – in the lead of a convoy in southeastern Afghanistan last Tuesday – were killed by the explosion, family members said.

“It’s pretty bad out there,” Oulette said Monday.

Bouchard, who underwent his second major back surgery Monday, was born in Bristol and grew up in town before moving with his parents to Amherst, Mass. before high school.

Mayor Art Ward, a Marine veteran who was injured in Vietnam, said he hopes Bouchard has “a speedy recovery.”

“We’re grateful for his service,” Ward said. He said soldiers such as Bouchard “are there for us and we need to be there for him” in his time of need.

“I would like people to know so they could say prayers for this brave soldier,” Ouelette said.

Bouchard’s parents, James and Suzann Bouchard, are with him at the hospital at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, Ouelette said.

“We were so afraid that he would not make it but fortunately he has so far,” she said.

The family learned of Bouchard’s injuries Wednesday. The military flew his parents to Germany to see their son and to help him with his recovery, Ouelette said.

James Bouchard is a Vietnam veteran who was also wounded in battle, his sister said.

“Wounded in Vietnam and your son goes and he gets wounded, too, like a domino thing,” Ouelette said.

Bouchard had served two tours in Iraq and recently signed on for his second four-year stint in the Marines, his aunt said.

The improvised explosive that injured Bouchard came during the largest U.S. military operation in Afghanistan since 2001.

Troops are targeting Taliban-held areas with the goal of reclaiming the territory for the U.S-backed central government before next month’s presidential election in the troubled country.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Flags to fly at half staff to honor Korean War soldier

Press release from Gov. Jodi Rell:

Governor Rell Orders Flags to Half-Staff on Friday for Recently Recovered Korean Conflict Soldier

Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she is ordering U.S. and Connecticut flags to be flown at half-staff from dawn to dusk on Friday, June 26, to honor U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Lincoln “Cliff” May of Plainville, who was killed in action during the Korean War.

May’s remains were among several sets of remains sent to the United States by North Korea in 1993. They were identified this year by comparing DNA to samples provided by two nephews, Glenn and Cliff Block of Bristol.

“Several decades have passed since Sergeant First Class May left Connecticut to serve our country overseas, but today he is finally home,” Governor Rell said. “All of Connecticut honors his service and sacrifice. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sergeant May’s family and friends and we hope that his return will provide some closure to his loved ones.”

Funeral services for Sergeant May – who was killed in action in November of 1950 while serving with the First Cavalry Division – will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday at the O’Brien Funeral Home, 24 Lincoln Avenue, in Bristol. Burial with full military honors will follow in West Cemetery in Plainville.

May was born September 4, 1928, in Plainville. He attended local schools and was employed at the time of his enlistment in 1948 at manufacturer Landers, Frary and Clark in New Britain. Prior to being sent to Korea, he served as a military policeman atFort Dix in New Jersey and Fort Devens in Massachusetts.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Plainville soldier's remains return home

The U.S. Army brought home a hero Tuesday.
Escorted by a few government cars and the police, the flag-draped coffin of Sgt. 1st Class Lincoln Clifford May of Plainville lay in the back of an O’Brien Funeral Home hearse as it drove the Korean War soldier’s remains back from the airport.
May, who died in 1950 during a ferocious battle with the Chinese Army in Korea, will be buried Friday near his family in Plainville’s West Cemetery.
The wake is slated to for 8:30 to 10 a.m. Friday at the funeral home, with burial to follow.
May’s remains were among the boxes sent to the U.S. by North Korea in 1993. They were identified this year by comparing DNA to samples provided by two nephews, Glenn and Cliff Block of Bristol.
The funeral isn’t the only Korean War event this week.
The city’s Korean War veterans are marking the 59th anniversary of the start of the war with a ceremony on Memorial Boulevard at 11 a.m., Thursday.The ceremony will feature Bristol veteran Frank Parker talking about his experiences in combat during the Korean War in 1950 and 1951,A luncheon follows at the American Legion hall on Hooker Court. Korean War veterans are invited to attend.
To honor his uncle, Cliff Block said the Korean War veterans are raising money to purchase a commercial washer and dryer for the Veterans Home in Rocky Hill.
Donations can be sent to The Korean Conflict Veterans Association, c/o The American Legion Post #2, 22 Hooker Court, Bristol, CT 06010.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Seeking World War II vets for a story

Anyone out there who can help me find a few World War II veterans who are willing to tell a story about their experiences? I have an editor who wants me to write up a few vets' stories -- and I have to do it right away.
The other thing is that we need pictures of the vets whose stories are used both from during the war and today.
So I'm looking for a few folks who are willing. You can contact me at scollins@bristolpress.com.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

A Korean War soldier, missing for almost 60 years, is coming home

When the Chinese army surged into Korea shortly before the winter of 1950 in a bid to salvage the communist regime, the first American military unit to feel the brunt of its attack hunkered down in the mountains and fought back with legendary fierceness.
Caught in the hail of bullets and bombs, a Plainville soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Lincoln Clifford May, lay among the mounds of the dead.
Declared missing in action after the Nov. 2, 1950 battle that wiped out most of his unit, May’s remains lay somewhere in Unsan, North Korea for the next 43 years.
But in 1993, the North Koreans handed over 208 boxes of bones from U.S. soldiers who perished in that bleak landscape.
Using DNA provided by May’s two nephews, Glenn and Cliff Block of Bristol, some of the bones have been identified after all these years by military experts as belonging to the long-dead soldier.
On June 26, May will be buried in a Plainville cemetery where many of the people the 22-year-old once knew are also interred.
“My uncle’s finally coming home,” said Cliff Block, a Bristol city councilor who was named for his uncle several months before the Plainville soldier vanished.
Glenn Block said that when he got a phone call months ago informing him that his uncle’s body had been found, “I cried like a baby in my office.”
Though Glenn Block has only the dimmest recollection of his uncle, he remembered his grandmother, Clara May, kept a framed photograph of her youngest son in his uniform on a table beside her rocking chair until her own death in 1990.
Cliff Block recalled that as a youngster, he would point to the picture and tell his grandmother, “That’s me before I died.”
Cliff Block said the long saga of his uncle’s return makes for “a great story,” but also a sad one because aside “everyone else is dead” for whom it would bring some peace except for he and his brother.
Glenn Block, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, said he wants a full military funeral for his uncle.
Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Peter Coppola, who is assisting the family for the Connecticut National Guard, said that funerals for soldiers whose remains are recovered decades after their deaths are “a rare event” and will be done right.
“This is kind of a chance to make it right,” said Glenn Block.
May arrived in Korea in August 1950 with U.S. forces who made a desperate stand to prevent the entire peninsula from being overrun by communist forces.
He was wounded near Pusan by a grenade the following month, Cliff Block said, but recovered enough to join his unit pushing north toward the Chinese border.
According to an old newspaper clipping, May carried shrapnel in his back as he headed out, sending a letter to his mother insisting he was no longer in danger.
The day before his death, the clipping said, May wrote to his fiancée in New Britain, whom he had planned to marry in October 1950, to say he was going out on “a big push.”
That was the last time anyone at home heard from him.
May, called “Cliff” by friends and family, enlisted in the Army in 1948. He became a military police officer and served in Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts before getting shipped out to Korea.
After his death, the Army sent the family his possessions -- a cap, an MP armband and tiny jackknife. They also sent two medals, a fraction of what he earned. Coppola said he’s working on getting the rest.
Glenn Block said he hopes is uncle’s story will make people think about the sacrifices that the military can require.”We’re talking people here who gave all. It’s that simple,” he said.
The remains of more than 8,000 Korea War soldiers have not yet been recovered, according to the Department of Defense’s office for prisoners of war and missing personnel
The O’Brien Funeral Home in Bristol is handling the arrangements. A wake is planned but hasn’t been finalized. The funeral is scheduled for Friday, June 26 at Plainville’s West Cemetery.
For details of the battle at Unsan, where May perished, please see this PDF of a military report on it.

And to find out how the military identified May's remains, see this PDF report.

Here is a news clipping from the Plainville News sometime after the Department of Defense proclaimed May as killed in action.

Timeline
1928 - Lincoln Clifford May born in Plainville
1948 - May joined the Army
1950 - May died in Korea
1993 - Unidentified remains returned by North Korea
2003 - May’s remaining relatives provided DNA samples
2008 - Military identified May’s remains
2009 - Burial planned in Plainville

Korean War Remembrance Day
The city’s Korean War veterans are marking the 59th anniversary of the start of the war with a ceremony on Memorial Boulevard at 11 a.m., Thursday, June 25.
The ceremony will feature Bristol veteran Frank Parker talking about his experiences in combat during the Korean War in 1950 and 1951,
A luncheon follows at the American Legion hall on Hooker Court. Korean War veterans are invited to attend.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

D-Day, through the eyes of Bristol veterans

As we mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day, here's a story I wrote back in 1994 about the 50th anniversary, focusing on Bristol veterans who were there.

We still have hundreds of World War II veterans in town. They were ordinary men and women who rose to the challenge of an extraordinary time. May America always find strength in their example.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Tattered or torn flag? Dispose of it with respect

Note from state Rep. Bill Hamzy, a Plymouth Republican whose 78th District includes part of Bristol:

If you own an American Flag that is tattered and torn and no longer serviceable and want to make sure it is disposed of in a respectful and honorable manner, you may want to consider dropping it off at American Legion Seicheprey Post # 2, 22 Hooker Court, in Bristol, on June 20^th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

State Representative Frank N. Nicastro Sr., Post Commander Jay Meisinger, Mayor Art Ward and I will be hosting a Flag Collection Day at the Post that Saturday. The flags will be disposed of properly in a lawful, dignified, respectful ceremony at the Post later in the day.

We scheduled the event for Saturday, June 20^th because it falls between Flag Day, June 14^th and the 4^th of July, when people think about displaying the flag.

For those who have a flag that is no longer usable, the U.S. Flag Code specifies that they must be properly retired. It’s my hope that Bristol and Plymouth residents will take advantage of this opportunity to properly retire their old flags.

Seicheprey Post # 2 has been collecting and properly disposing of flags for many years. One year the Post collected more than 5000 of them.

If you are unable to bring your old flags to the Post on June 20^th, you can bring them down any other day of the year. The Post schedules ceremonial burnings as needed throughout the year. The Post considers it both an honor and a privilege to perform the service.

Sincerely,

Bill Hamzy

Your State Representative

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Chippens Hill students remember Memorial Day

For every day of freedom since the founding of the United States, more than 13 military men and women have died under enemy fire, according to retired U.S. Army Col. William Coffey of Plainville.

Though half of them perished in a bloody Civil War on America’s own soil, the sacrifice that has kept the nation free lies at the root of this weekend’s marking of Memorial Day, numerous speakers told Chippens Hill Middle School seventh graders during an assembly Friday.

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Stube, a soft-spoken Tennessee native who serves with the U.S. Army Special Forces at For Bragg, N.C., told the youngsters about the terrible wounds he received while fighting in Afghanistan in late 2006.

Stube said he lost 70 percent of his intestines, suffered severe burns on a third of his body, two gun-shot wounds and had his right leg blown off below the knee – though a military surgeon managed to restore it during an 18 hour surgery.

Lying in the hospital for a year afterward, he said, he came to realization that despite the high price war had made him pay, it was worth it.

Looking out at the children arrayed in the middle school’s auditorium, Stube said, "I would do it all again because I’m looking at the reasons I did it in the first place."

School Superintendent Philip Streifer said the men and women in the military serve our country "so we can do the simple things we do every day."

In a world where extremists would gladly seize control of everyday life for everyone else, he said, it’s important to remember the guardians of America’s freedom and to honor the sacrifices "of every-body who put it all on the line" for their country.

"The least we can do is take a few moments to remember our fallen heroes," Streifer said, including the nearly 4,300 Americans who have died in Iraq and the 678 who have perished in Afghanistan since the nightmare of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Streifer told the assembly about a friend whose daughter was slated to take a plane from Boston to New York on 9-11 and to attend a business function at the top of the World Trade Center that day. His friend spent the day in dread – and ultimately learned that his daughter was among the dead.

Stube said he’s glad to see so much going on in Bristol to mark the holiday.

"Memorial Day is about honoring the lives that our freedom has depended on," he said. "Though the people are gone, they are not forgotten."

"Bristol, Connecticut is an amazing place," Stube added, "look at the honor that is being brought to this holiday."

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Military exhibit on Sunday may be New England's largest inter-service display

Memorial Boulevard will have one of New England’s largest military exhibits Sunday as part of the community’s Memorial Day activities.

Military men and women from every branch of the service will be on hand to show off everything from a U.S. Navy boat to an armored personnel carrier.

"We’re going to have all our vehicles out there," said Sgt. Michael Proulx of the New Hamphire-based 368th Engineering Battalion of the U.S. Army Reserves.

Pat Nelligan, a park commissioner who has helped organize the event since it began five years ago, said the city has "built up a tradition now" with its display of military hardware.

Mayor Art Ward said the people should come down to the boulevard to see it for themselves.

He said, too, that if offers residents a chance to talk directly to the active duty military members who have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They can answer the questions" that people may have, the mayor said.

He urged everyone to "get the answers rather than the speculation" about the controversial wars the country is engaged in.

The Sunday celebration runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and includes a helicopter landing at 10 a.m. A ceremony is slated for 1 p.m. where U.S. Army Major General Bruce Zukaskus and SFC Gregory Stube, a who survived grievous wounds in Afghanistan, will speak.

Gerald Chamberland, who is active in veterans activities, said that people should some to learn the history of what’s gone from the men and women who were there.

Chamberland said that in hearing from the soldiers of all branches, residents will come to appreciate more deeply "the freedom we all share."

Lt. Peter Torromeo of the New Hampshire-based engineering unit said his battalion has had people at each of Bristol’s weekend events for four years.

"We don’t give up a chance to do this," he said, because of the tremendous support they get from the community and the active veterans group in town.

"Everyone treats us really nice and they are respectful," Proulx said.

"We’re very fortunate in Bristol. It’s always been a military-oriented town, even during the Vietnam War," said the mayor, who served in the U.S. Marines in Vietnam.

Proulx said he thinks the armored personnel carrier they brought down, "which looks like a little tank," will be a hit. Visitors will have a chance to clamber in and out.

"They can get out on there and see what it’s all about," he said.

Weekend schedule

Saturday

11 a.m. - Dedication of aerators on Memorial Boulevard ponds and the rededication of the ‘Hiker’ monument and World War I obelisk.

11:30 a.m. - Community covenant signing

noon - Scholarship presentation in honor of the late Tony Savino

Sunday

8 - 4:30 - Military exhibits

Monday

9 a.m. - Bristol Memorial Day Parade, which starts on Race Street

noon - Forestville Memorial Day Parade

PS: If anyone has tips on the best places to watch the parades from, please post them as comments. I've had a couple of requests from people who want to attend but are not sure where to go to view each parade.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

A big weekend for veterans activities in Bristol

Press release from the Bristol Veterans Council:

May is National Military Appreciation month, a special time to recognize the sacrifices of our troops and their families.  As part of the Memorial Day weekend celebration, Bristol will host the region’s largest ever gathering of multi service military exhibits on Sunday, May 24, 2009.

Memorial Boulevard in Bristol Connecticut will be the site of the daylong celebration, beginning at 8:00 A.M. until 4:30 P.M.  There will be a Sunrise service at 8:00 with the ceremony starting at 1:00 P.M. As Bristol recognizes past, present and future members of the armed forces, all branches will be represented to include the Army Reserves, and the CT National Guard.

Participants committed include:

Army Major General Bruce Zukaskus (KEYNOTE SPEAKER )

Silver Star recipient, SFC Greg Stube (KEYNOTE SPEAKER)

REPRESENTATIVES OF MULTIPLE MILITARY UNITS (AR/NG)

HONOR GUARD (All 5 Branches of Military Service)

MILITARY VECHICLES (wheeled and tracked from both past and present)

DISPLAYS OF EQUIPMENT FROM ALL BRANCHES (to include an Army surgical unit, helicopter landing at 10:00 AM, Coast Guard and Navy patrol boats, Marine Corps weapons display, and many interactive exhibits)

Saturday:

11:00 Monument dedications - Dedication of the aerators “on Memorial Boulevard Pond and

Re-dedication of Hiker Monument and World War I Monument

11:30 Community Covenant signing

12:00 CSM Savino scholarship presentation

Sunday:

 8:00 AM— 4:30 PM Memorial Day Weekend Celebration on the Boulevard

 Monday:

9:00 AM Bristol Memorial Day Parade (Starts at Race Street)

12:00 PM Forestville Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Boulevard was originally established in 1921 to honor Bristol citizens who lost their lives in World War I.  Since then monuments to those killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and to the men and women who have served in other conflicts, have also been erected.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

World War II vets sought for Memorial Day Parade

Organizers of the Memorial Day Parade in Bristol are looking for World War II veterans who would like to participate.

Any veteran of the war will be seated in a car driven the length of the downtown parade route, they said.

Veterans who are interested only need to show up by 8:30 a.m. at the staging area on Race Street, said Bill Tulloch, one of the organizers.

The parade kicks off at 9 a.m.

There is also a second parade in town, which begins at noon in Forestville.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Cash snatched from Bristol veterans?

A financial scandal has rocked the state’s largest American Legion post in Bristol.
Police are investigating the alleged theft of more than $25,000 from the Seicheprey Post #2, where David Page was recently removed as finance director.
“It’s really a stab in the heart,” Mayor Art Ward said Tuesday.
Page, a 61-year-old Martin Road resident, said police have been probing the case “for a long time,” but he otherwise insisted he “can’t say anything” on the advice of his attorney.
The commander of the 728-member Legion post on Hooker Court, Jay Meisinger, said that officials of the veterans group discovered “some discrepancies” in the books.
They amounted to at least $25,000, according to several sources.
Meisinger said that Page served as the post’s finance director until November, when he was stripped of the position. An investigation began about the same time, he said.
Lt. Edward Spyros said Tuesday that police are actively probing a theft at the American Legion reported to them in early March.
“Unfortunately I cannot give any more information as it may jeopardize the investigation. I cannot release the name of the suspect,” Spyros added.
Meisinger said he couldn’t talk about the details until an arrest is made, which he expects soon.
“It’s in the police and court’s hands,” Meisinger said.
“It’s terrible. It really is,” said Ward, who has been active in the Legion since his return from service as a U.S. Marine in the jungles of Vietnam. He is a past commander of the Seicheprey post, named for a World War I battle in France that claimed eight Bristol natives.
Page serves as the chairman of the Boys Scouts Committee for the Connecticut Department of the American Legion, a 3-million member veterans organization formed in 1919 by soldiers returning from World War I.
He was actively involved in the Sea Scouts through the Bristol post.
Bristol has more veterans among its residents than any other city in Connecticut, with over 5,000 out of a city population of a little more than 60,000.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Slice of Bristol seeks to help Bristol military personnel

Over the past five years, the Slice of Bristol group has sent off more than 150 packages to the city’s military men and women around the world to give them a touch of home as they carry out their duties across the world.

But it’s been a couple of years since the last round of boxes went out – stuffed with ESPN caps, Lake Compounce passes and other keepsakes from home – and there “is a whole new generation” of soldiers, sailors and more to reach, said city Councilor Craig Minor, one of the original organizers of the effort.

The idea driving the effort is to give military personnel in far-flung places a taste of home, a reminder that people in Bristol are thinking of them and wishing them well.

“We know we have had success” in the past because of the thank-yous that came back from soldiers in Afghanistan, sailors in the Persian Gulf and many others, said Pat Nelligan, who was also among the original organizers.

The Slice of Bristol group, which is now part of the Bristol Veterans Council, plans to send a new pile of packages on March 14 and is busy gathering the names of military personnel who should get one.

“Let’s share the wealth. Let’s get some names,” Nelligan said.

Nelligan said that the group is contacting recruiters in the area to find out any names and addresses they may have. But they also need help from the community because the military doesn’t release the information itself.

If you know the name and address of anyone serving overseas in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard, please print it carefully and mail the necessary information to Slice of Bristol, in care of the mayor’s office at City Hall.

Be sure to include your own name and phone number in case organizers have any questions.

The only stipulation that organizers have is that the package recipients must be from Bristol.

Know someone who should get a box?

Send his or her name and mailing address to:

Slice of Bristol
c/o  Mayor's Office
111 North Main Street
Bristol,  CT  06010

If you have a photograph that could be put in the new display case at City Hall, include it as well.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com