A Tribute to Veterans Past and Present

November 11, 2024
• Needham residents paid tribute to local service members during a Veterans Day ceremony at Memorial Park Monday morning.

Gathered around the grounds of Memorial Park, among stone plaques and American flags planted in the soil, dozens of veterans stood in salute. Wearing garrison caps, adorned with patches and pins, they watched as a Needham Police officer and fellow veteran raised the American and POW/MIA flags.

In the 11th hour of Nov. 11, 1918, World War I formally ended, but that armistice did not hold. Since then, American troops have served to defend and protect, and some did not make it home.

Needham is home to about 700 veterans, though the names of veterans past are immortalized in Memorial Park and in the memories of those still living.

Veterans Day pays tribute to military service members both living and departed, Post 2498 member Jason Kravetz said to the large crowd Monday morning. Kravetz, who acts as the local VFW’s coordinator of ceremonies and caretaker of the veterans cemetery, said his community service began as a commitment to “a military brother who lost the battle after we got home from deployment.”

“Suicide in the military is 10 times higher compared to the non-veteran population. So, I ask that today we think about those veterans,” Kravetz said. “I would also ask that we check in on our friends and loved ones, veteran and non-veteran alike. Mental health is critical, and people need to know they are supported.”

Following the National Anthem, St. Sebastian School freshman Patrick Dunn delivered remarks about his grandfather Joseph Dunn, a U.S. Navy commander from Hull whose plane was shot down over Chinese territory during the Vietnam War. Though Dunn was thought to have survived the crash, under presidential order, he could not be saved. He was never located.

In his absence, his wife Maureen Dunn helped to found the POW/MIA, Patrick Dunn said, and while he isn’t able to thank his own loved one for his service, he extended his gratitude for the many veterans in attendance, who “put [their] life on the line.”

“My grandfather’s story, with the help of my grandmother’s efforts, inspired countless people, including me,” Patrick Dunn said. “I have grown up without much of a military family, other than rooting for Navy football, but I want to change that. I want to go to the Naval Academy, become a naval engineer, and follow my grandfather’s footsteps.”

Retired Lt. Col. David Remsen placed a wreath at the center of the memorial, after which state Rep. Denise Garlick shed light on the unseen consequences of war on veterans’ partners: career interruptions, missed family milestones, moving between cities and countries and “an unspoken, constant anxiety for the safety of their loved one and the security of their own futures.”

Veterans exist and serve across the Needham community, though their military service may go unrecognized and their stories untold, Garlick said. It’s during Veterans Day that they earn their flowers, she said, but much more needs to be done to support their transition back to civilian life.

“They have come home having witnessed devastating destruction, and even in the same places of that destruction, they rebuilt roads, schools, aqueducts and medical facilities. They have come home with the resilience that even they could not have anticipated,” Garlick said. “What do we call these people, the ones who survived and the many, but not all, who thrived, who came home skilled, service-oriented team members in our community and resilient, who strive to be normal, but in reality, are in fact quite extraordinary? We call them veterans, and we say, ‘thank you.’”

This being Garlick’s final Veterans Day ceremony as a legislator, Kravetz and his son Quinn made and presented her with a wooden flag carving, engraved with her name on its stripes.

For Select Board Chair Kevin Keane, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is a holiday classic but also “a somber reminder” of veterans’ sacrifice. While Christmas shopping, his late father-in-law — who served in Germany post-World War II — shared with Keane a different perspective of that song and what it means for military families separated during the holidays.

Now, Keane said the song reminds us why Veterans Day is celebrated every year.

“We celebrate Veterans Day to honor those who served and for all the innumerable sacrifices they made during the service — the big sacrifices that made the news and the small ones that came [down] the way each day,” Keane said. “And to the veterans: Even though we do not always realize what you shouldered, we appreciate the sacrifices you made for our nation, and the town of Needham is so happy that you are home.”

Cohorts from the Needham Police and Fire Departments looked on during the ceremony, their emergency vehicles parked along Highland Avenue. Members of Boy Scouts of America Troop 13 held an American flag. Their Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Zach Rubin read “In Flanders Fields,” a poem by John McCrae illustrating the sacrifice of World War I veterans.

During the remarks, Vietnam veteran Tom Keating thought about the many service members in town, all of whom share different stories and served in different ways, though all of whom served in a war zone. Today, they’re healthy and safe, for which Keating is grateful.

Close to 100 people gathered at Memorial Park for the ceremony, which Keating considers a symbol of the town’s respect and admiration for himself and other veterans.

“I know that the town of Needham really likes to come out and say ‘thank you’ to veterans,” Keating said. “That really, really makes it feel good for all of us.”