By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – Memorial Day 2025 got underway at 10 a.m. under bright, sunny skies as Priscilla Powers of the West Side Social Club welcomed those in attendance for the ceremonies on Moulton Field.
Powers introduced Town Councilor Jonathan Chines, who observed that each of the memorial trees that surround the park is “a fitting symbol for the love that we have for those we have lost.” Our memories of the fallen, he said, “remind us of the strength and service that they shared.”
After brief welcoming remarks from WSSC president Adam Pinkney, club members placed wreaths at the memorial tree for 9/11 victims and the memorial boulder for the 512 deceased club members.
Following the traditional rededication of the 29 memorial trees, keynote speaker Willian H. DeRoche stepped to the podium. A 1980 graduate of Wakefield Memorial High School, DeRoche served for 10 years as an aviator with the U.S. Navy, participating in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq during the First Gulf War.
DeRoche said that Memorial Day is an opportunity to teach younger generations about the sacrifices that have been made to ensure the freedoms that we all enjoy. He asked those in attendance to “commit to learning about one of the individuals whose sacrifice we remember today.”
Woodville School 2nd grader Lilly Kelly and Galvin Middle School 5th grader Laila Hubbard played an active role in the WSSC ceremony, placing long-stem roses at the 29 memorial plaques that lined the field as the names of the fallen were read.
Singer Carissa Scudieri performed the National Anthem and God Bless America at the WSSC’s morning program.
The town’s afternoon ceremony on Veterans Memorial Common was emceed my Paul Cancelliere, chairman of the Wakefield Veterans Advisory Board.
“Today’s theme is ‘valor,’” Cancelliere said. He defined valor as “great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle.”
Cancelliere called upon Christian Ponzo, a student at St. Joseph School, to read Gov. Maura Healey’s Memorial Day Proclamation.
After the colors were placed by Boy Scouts from Troop 701, Wakefield Memorial High School students Jhalak Patel and Lucy Spry performed a harmonious rendition of the National Anthem.
Town Council chair Mehreen Butt brought greetings from the town.
“Wakefield has a long history of honoring those who are courageous and brave,” Butt said. “We also pray for peace so that not another loved one is sent to fight wars.”
The keynote speaker for the afternoon ceremony was Brigadier General Leonid Kondratiuk, who served in the National Guard for nearly 30 years.
A military historian, Gen. Kondratiuk’s remarks traced Wakefield’s role in the defense of the nation from the Reading Militia that engaged the British during the retreat from Concord, through the Richardson Light Guard’s formation at the start of the Civil War to the Americal Division’s key role in the Pacific during World War II.
“Wakefield patriots have always responded to the call of duty when the nation was in peril,” Kondratiuk said.
The afternoon ceremony also included the presentation of the Massachusetts Medal of Fidelity to the surviving spouses of four Vietnam War servicemen who lost their lives to service-related injuries or illnesses. They were Mrs. Mildred Cooper (widow of U.S. Army Captain James H. Cooper), Mrs. Elaine Caruso (widow of Army Technical Sgt. Russell Caruso), Mrs. Jeanne Hue (widow of Army Sgt. Stephen Hue) and Mrs. Diane Oxford (widow of William Oxford, U.S. Air Force).
Minjee Baek, representing the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, presented the “Ambassador for Peace” medal to James MacKay, son of U.S. Marine Sgt. Billie MacKay, who served in Korea in from 1951-1952.
After Wakefield Veterans Agent David Mangan recited the World War I poem, “In Flanders Fields,” volunteers read the names of all 161 Wakefield residents who have died while serving their country from the Revolutionary War to the present. After each name was read, Wakefield Firefighter Joseph Tropeano rang the Bell of Peace. After all the names were read, Wakefield Girl Scouts placed a memorial wreath in front of the World War II Memorial. “Taps” was then performed by buglers Owen Kelley and Kathryn Sliski from Wakefield Memorial High School.
Father Ron Barker, pastor of St. Joseph Church, offered the opening prayer at the afternoon observance. Rev. Glenn Mortimer of the Wakefield-Lynnfield Methodist Church provided the closing benediction.
At the end of the ceremonies on Veterans Memorial Common, many in attendance walked to the Lower Common where they were treated to a formal 21-gun salute on a Howitzer cannon rendered by a section of the First Battalion, 101st Field Artillery Regiment of the Massachusetts National Guard.
