News Stories

Burlington’s Memorial Day Ceremony

The following is a notice from the Burlington Office of Veteran Services: 


resizedimage140103 American flag 2This year’s Memorial Day in Burlington will take place on Monday, May 25, 2015. The 8 a.m. portion of the ceremony will take place on the town common. The main portion of the morning’s activities will begin at 10am in the Chestnut Hill Cemetery. The theme this year is the 70th anniversary of the end of World War 2.

 

The guest speaker will be Randy Bergeron, the Historian at Hanscom Air Force Base. 

 

The official surrender document was signed by the Allied Forces and Japanese delegation aboard the USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Harbor in September of 1945. The President & Chief Executive Officer of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Michael Carr, sent greetings to the town of Burlington and talks about the importance of keeping the history of that time, alive and accurate. The photo on this year’s program is a picture of General MacArthur signing the peace document aboard the USS Missouri.

 

The official Massachusetts memorial to all Bay Staters killed in service to their nation in World War 2 is aboard the USS Massachusetts. The Executive Director of Battleship Cove in Fall River, Brad King said that as caretakers of history, their mission is to preserve the ships in Battleship Cove, for the next generation so what happened 70 years ago will not be forgotten.

 

Also joining the ceremony as a guest speaker is Retired Brigadier General Jack Hammond, who is the Executive Director of the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Home Base Program.

 

This is the final Memorial Day program that both Bob Hogan and Betty McDonough will oversee. Bob is retiring after 19 years as the town’s Veterans Agent, and after 23 years as the Principal Clerk in the Veterans Services office, Betty is transferring over to the Town Administrators office, and will be John Petrin’s Executive Assistant.

 

Click here to see the full Burlington Memorial Day ceremony program