HPD Appreciates Holliston Vets
On Monday, November 7, 2022, the Holliston Police Department kicked off the week of Veterans Day with its 3rd Veterans Appreciation Breakfast. The Historical Society donated the use of the barn to accommodate the crowd.
Below, HPD Chief Matthew Stone, on behalf of the Department’s personnel, welcomed everyone to the celebration. He thanked the veterans in attendance for their service to our country and our community.
Stone acknowledged Holliston’s Oldest Veteran, Charlie Nickerson, who served in WWII earning two Silver Star medals for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, led by current and former HPD officers (and vets themselves), Commander Turcotte offered a prayer of thanks for the veterans who have, and are now, serving reminding us to remember their sacrifice and acknowledging the Holliston vets that have passed away since the last reading of the necrology on Memorial Day.
LTC Napolitano, recently retired commander of a squadron of C-130 Hercules based in Rhode Island, spoke thoughtfully about the word “service.” How in this day and age where self-serving can be found, it is a rare breed who chooses to serve others. First responders, military personnel, and civilians are all part of what he called a “Community of Servers.” He encouraged all veterans to tell their military stories so that all can benefit from their experiences. Perhaps in telling the stories there’ll be an enlarging “circle of service” here and elsewhere.
Representing the MA National Guard was BG (Ret) Kennedy. BG Kennedy echoed LTC Napolitano’s remarks encouraging vets to stay connected through their storytelling. There are 385,000 veterans in MA and over 21 million across the country. He urged vets to support one another in civilian life as they cared for their buddies on active duty. BG Kennedy was presented with an Iraq / Afghanistan monument photo booklet including the names of Hollistonians who served in those combat areas.
Chief Stone concluded the program by noted the service of the men and women of HPD who care for our community 24/7. Over ten current and former HPD members were on hand at the event.
1 Comment
I was sorry to miss this event; however, I heard nothing but positive remarks. Just a bunch of Veterans getting together and talking.
I want to thank Bobby Blair, Steve Bradford, and the Lions for putting together today’s lunch.
The purpose of the lunch was to gather Veterans to introduce them to other Veterans or reconnect them, share stories, and build a community. Instead, the speakers droned on about issues or topics no one was interested in listening to, lost the audience, and quite frankly annoyed those in attendance.
Unlike today’s Veteran’s lunch – having 49 minutes and 37 seconds of speeches. Needless to say, many of us will not be going again in the future and encourage others to join the event described above next year instead.