May 25, 2026
• Attendees paid tribute to those “who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice” during quieter ceremonies before gathering at Memorial Park.

Drizzling turned to rain as observers moved between ceremonies Monday morning, watching as local veterans saluted the flag, listening as taps played and lowering their heads in moments of reflection and prayer.

Veterans and residents started the morning at the Public Safety Complex, where police officers and firefighters read dozens of names of those who served in the military and continued to serve when they returned home.

Fire Chief Tom Conroy offered brief remarks outside the fire department and called for a moment of silence for Boston firefighter Robert Kilduff, who died while battling a fire over the weekend.

“We gather on this Memorial Day to honor the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. As you enjoy this holiday weekend, please keep in mind those men and women who sacrificed so much… our brother and sister firefighters who have fallen before us.”

Jay Kravetz, the caretaker of veteran graves and coordinator of ceremonies, offered greetings and introductions at each stop, as they moved to St. Mary’s Cemetery to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the Needham Cemetery, Town Common and finally Memorial Park.

A veteran raises the flag at St. Mary’s Cemetery on Memorial Day. (*Cameron Morsberger*)

Memorial Day stands as the biggest, “most somber” and most important of veteran observances, Kravetz said in an interview.

Each year, he thinks of his friend Murray Archambault, with whom he shared barracks while overseas in the U.S. Coast Guard. Upon returning home, Archambault died from suicide.

“I think a lot of us think about people who have died in action, but it’s not really that,” Kravetz said. “It’s all the veterans who have passed, either in action or when they came home.”

Veteran Matt Ching, a member of VFW Post 2498 and American Legion Post 14, remembered Tim Sullivan. Sullivan spent years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, and when he returned home, he worked in veterans affairs and at the MA Department of Veterans’ Services. Sullivan passed away in February.

Ching remembers Sullivan “was always touched by Memorial Day.” Having endured “the horrors of war,” Sullivan was in Ching’s reflections during the day.

“It’s a day of reflection for those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice,” Ching said in an interview. “Memorial Day is a special day of remembrance and observance. We’re doing our part to honor those who have fallen.”

Vietnam veteran Tom Keating salutes the flag at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Cefalo Circle. (*Cameron Morsberger*)

At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Select Board member Kevin Keane reflected on “the enormity of their sacrifice.”

“On this Memorial Day, the town of Needham, with great gratitude, honors the courage, sacrifice, service and the memories of these fallen brave who died in Vietnam,” Keane said, “and we extend our sincerest condolences to their families and their friends who have borne that loss all these years.”

The holiday, perhaps, is more commonly tied to vacations and warm weather, Select Board member Bill Dermody said at Needham Cemetery. A third-generation Needham resident, Dermody said his father served in the U.S. Navy and his grandfather served in the U.S. Army.

“Too often Memorial Day can become associated mainly with cookouts, parades and the unofficial start of summer,” he said at the ceremony, “but today is first and foremost a day of remembrance, a day dedicated to honoring the brave men and women of our armed forces who gave their lives defending our country and the freedoms we enjoy today.”

Across both cemeteries, the Boy Scouts Troop 13 replaced 2,500 American flags.

Following the ceremony, the troop, veterans and residents walked down Nehoiden Street toward the Town Common, where the town held another observance. David Pinkham, a Needham crossing guard who served in the U.S. Navy, rose the flag above Great Plain Avenue.

As the rain continued to fall, Kravetz reflected on what service means. The heroes, missing in action, the lost and the absent all are remembered, he said.

“Every veteran has given something in service to this country. Some gave years of their lives, some returned home carrying physical and emotional wounds that would stay with them forever, and some made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in defense of our nation and the freedoms we hold dear today,” he said. “Let us never forget that the freedoms we enjoy each day were secured through the courage, sacrifice and dedication of generations of men and women in uniform.”