Honoring Needhamites and Their Sacrifice

August 8, 2025
• Needham residents recognized Purple Heart Day on Thursday with a ceremony acknowledging the town’s own awardees.

Standing around Memorial Park, among monuments erected for Needham’s veterans, attendees listened to the names of 87 distinguished residents, many of whom lost their lives in battle.

For Purple Heart Day on Thursday, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2498 held its annual ceremony honoring those Purple Heart recipients. The medal — the country’s oldest military award created by then-General George Washington in 1782 — is conferred to service members who were wounded or killed at the hands of an opposing force.

Needham Police and Fire attended alongside veterans, local officials and community members. As Veterans Services Officer Dan O’Neill began the ceremony, the Commuter Rail chugged by — “even our MBTA blows its horn in witness,” he said.

“Each Purple Heart represents a story of bravery and sacrifice. These heroes faced danger head on and paid a personal price out of service to our country,” O’Neill said. “Their wounds remind us of a high cost of freedom and the courage it takes to defend it.”

One such hero was David “Damon” Borrelli, a World War II U.S. Army veteran who stormed the beaches at Normandy. He survived the military operation but died a month later at just 21 years old.

His nephew, Matt Borrelli, reflected on his family’s history and legacy. Damon Borrelli was one of six brothers to serve in the military, and a bridge near Hersey Station was dedicated in his name.

Needham residents show up for events honoring their veterans, and Borrelli said that doesn’t go unnoticed.

“I just think it shows respect,” he said, “and it shows love for the people who made this town, who went off and sacrificed for themselves and for their families to keep Needham how it is and keep this country how it is.”

During his tenure on the Select Board, Borrelli signed a proclamation declaring Needham a Purple Heart Community in 2015. The proclamation, which Select Board Chair Heidi Frail read at the ceremony, states that Needhamites “have great admiration and the utmost gratitude for the men and women who selflessly served their country and this community in the Armed Forces.”

For Kevin Devaney, an Army veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, the town’s support during these ceremonies is significant. For people just passing through the park and catching a glimpse of the event, they too are bearing witness, he said.

“The Purple Heart is for service members wounded or killed in the line of duty in war situations, and having these ceremonies and saying their names ensures that their sacrifice is not forgotten,” Devaney said, “even if they are still with us, that they sustained injuries or sacrificed their life, it’s important, really nice that the town does this.”

Devaney read a series of Purple Heart recipients names, alongside VFW Chaplain Tom Keating and state Rep. Josh Tarsky.

The Purple Heart banner will wave above Needham this weekend, and O’Neill encouraged passers-by to spend a moment reflecting on what it symbolizes.

“As you pass Memorial Field these next three days, I invite you to look up at that banner and remember the legacy of our Purple Heart veterans,” he said, “and may their stories inspire us to live with the same level of dedication and courage that they did.”