By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – Two Korean War veterans — retired Air Force Staff Sergeant Chester Lee and retired Army Technical Sergeant Martin Venus — were awarded the Korean Ambassador of Peace Medal at the town’s Veterans Day ceremony at the Galvin Middle School Saturday
“I’m very pleased,” Venus, 84, said. “It’s good to be recognized.”
The medals were presented to the two men by Vietnam-era veteran and Veterans Service Officer David Mangan and Congressman Seth Moulton, an Iraq War veteran. He also assisted in presenting a Medal of Fidelity to Medal of Fidelity, which honors the families of deceased service veterans, to Susan Umphrey, wife of recently deceased Vietnam War Navy veteran Stephen Umphrey.
In his remarks, Moulton recalled moments thinking about his family when he was at war. It was a feeling he didn’t fully comprehend until years later when he heard a friend got hurt in combat, but was unable to help him. During a Congressional trip to Afghanistan, Moulton talked of thinking about his daughters. “I appreciate what my family went through and hope we can take a moment to recognize our families,” he said.
Moulton was only one of numerous politicians and town officials to appear, including State Senator Jason Lewis, State Representatives Kate Lipper-Garabedian and Donald Wong, Town Councilors Jonathan Chines and Robert Vincent, Town Administrator Steve Maio and School Superintendent Doug Lyons.
Lipper-Garabedian called Veterans Day “a meaningful opportunity to acknowledge our veterans and their contributions and their families. We appreciate and recognize service and the sacrifice that comes with service.”
“We are here for you,” Wong told the veterans and others in attendance. “In the Commonwealth we do what we can for our veterans. I think we do more than any other state because of our Congressional delegation.”
“Conflicts may seem distant, but they affect many of our neighbors, including those who serve and may receive a call to deploy at any time,” Lewis added.
Vincent, a retired Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps attorney, was the keynote speaker. He told stories of notable service he’d seen in his career, related to the theme of “service” of the day, including work in the Pentagon on Continuity of Operations Programs and Policy after 9/11. “I was impressed by my colleagues’ dedication to duty while working under trying conditions,” he said.
“He has dedicated his life to his country and community,” Chines said of Vincent in earlier remarks. “I’m honored to have him as a colleague.”
November 11 marks the date of the armistice to end World War I 1918, signed at 11 a.m. In shorthand it is 11/11 and the ceremony fittingly started at 11 a.m.
The Master of Ceremonies was retired Army Major and chair of the Wakefield Veterans Advisory Board Paul Cancelliere.
In opening remarks, he outlined some of the history of the armed forces from the days when local militias were organized into Area Guards, the New England Army of Observation, the Army of the United Colonies and, finally, the Army of the United States or Continental Army under General George Washington.
He also told the audience of over 100 about the late Army General John Galvin, after whom the school was named. Galvin was a Wakefield native whose career from 1947-92 included time in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, service in the Vietnam War and heading the United States Southern Command in Panama and European Command in Germany, in addition to serving as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander.
Later he gave Moulton and Vincent copies of a new book on Beatrice Patton, wife of General George Patton, “Lady of the Army” by Stephanie Van Steelandt, who used Patton’s daughter-in–law and wife of General George Patton IV Joanne Patton as a source. Patton was from California, but married in Beverly and the extended family settled in Hamilton.
Chines alluded to Galvin, as well as Vincent, when he said, “These examples demonstrate that the debt of gratitude we owe Wakefield veterans is substantial. We need to recognize their struggle dealing with the seen and unseen scars of combat.”