Above: Flags were purchased to raise funds for Wounded Warriors and placed to symbolize the number of veterans expected to commit suicide this month alone. (contributed photo)
If you’ve been by St. Mark’s field but haven’t been able to read the small print on the sign, you are probably wondering why the corner is studded with flags.
They weren’t just placed there in honor of Veterans Day. The flags are part of an effort to raise awareness of a tragic problem in our country – the high rate of suicide among service veterans.
Each of the 682 flags represents a veteran suicide. As the sign explains, with an average of 22 per day, that’s just the month of November.
At Southborough’s Veterans Day ceremony, American Legion Post Commander Lieutenant Colonel John Wilson informed the public of the significance in his opening remarks. (Scroll down for more on that event.)
Wilson explained the project was organized by a student at St. Mark’s School. According to St. Mark’s Dean of Students, David Vachris, the project raises more than awareness. It also raised funds for Wounded Warrior:
On the corner of Routes 85 and 30, residents and travelers will see a large sign and number of American flags in the St. Mark’s front fields. In an effort to highlight the sacrifices of our veterans, these flags represent the estimated 682 US Veterans who will commit suicide during the month of November. That is 22 veterans killing themselves every day.
Drew D’Orsi, a junior from Sudbury, has been the point person for this effort at St. Mark’s. Drew sponsored this fundraiser where students and adults could “buy” a flag for the front field with proceeds being donated to the Wounded Warrior Program. Drew and a number of faculty and students placed the flags the day before Veterans Day on Friday. The flags and the sign will remain up until the end of November.
We hope that these flags remind all of us of the incredible sacrifices of our veterans and at the same time honor those who have served our country.
For those of you who didn’t attend, Friday’s Veteran’s Day Ceremony, here are some images from the morning, followed by a recap.
With the event falling on the heels of the election, some speakers spoke of the need for the country to find a way to lay anger to rest and heal its divide.
VFW Post 3276 Commander Steve Whynot told participants it was time for the country to come together. He reminded us that however we voted, it was the men who served in wars past that provided us that opportunity. The men whose names are carved in granite in Town memorials “laid the foundation for our freedom so we could do that.”
And he referred to remarks made by Selectman Dan Kolenda at a Rotary Club event the night before. Kolenda had recounted how much Iraq’s first election meant to the people who proudly risked their lives to vote in it. Whynot reminded participants that “Freedom isn’t free”.
Julie Cedrone, Assistant Pastor of Pilgrim Church asked the crowd to join her in the following prayer:
God of peace,
We pray for those who have served our nation and have laid down their lives to protect and defend our freedom
We pray for those who have fought, whose spirits and bodies are scarred by war, whose nights are haunted by memories too painful for the light of day
We pray for those who serve us now, especially in harm’s way. Shield them from danger and bring them home. Turn the hearts and minds of our leaders to the work of justice.
At this moment in American history, when our nation feels raw and divided, help us find what we unites us.
Allow us to know the hopeful potential of this country, and find greater depths of understanding together.
God, may the peace that you give us sustain us and guide us, be here with us always.
Amen.
Kolenda, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves, thanked military families “for allowing us to serve, for when the solder, sailor, airman, marine or coast guard serves, so does their family left behind”. And he reminded the public that when service members sign up, they don’t know if they will be deployed overseas.
Representative Carolyn Dykema’s spoke next. Here are some excerpts:
Our veterans have come from all over the country and have served all over the world. But they are united in their shared commitment to defending our citizens, our inspired American ideals, and our way of life. And we’re here to today to honor them and their service.
Days like today allow us to come together as a community not just to give our resounding thanks to the men and women who have served in the military, but to celebrate the cause that they fought for. We are profoundly blessed to live in a free nation where the rights of our citizens are protected by both our Constitution and by those willing to defend it.
When the American Revolution began just down the road, we were fighting for the right of every citizen to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The very first veterans, some of them from right here in Southborough, fought for the right of people of all backgrounds, faiths, and means to have self-determination. And as we have continued to expand those rights in the time since, we must never forget that those freedoms were won and continue to be protected by those who serve. . .
Almost every veteran I have ever met has had a deep personal desire to give back to his or her community even after serving. It’s quite remarkable- even after giving so much, they still want to do more. Let that commitment to service be a model for all of us and inspire us to live, as our veterans do, by the memorable words of the late President Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
Looking out at those gathered here gives me so much pride in our country and our young people. It reminds me how much unites us. Those of us here who have not served can never match their sacrifice, but we can give a little of ourselves every day to our greater cause. It may not come easy, but as any veteran will tell you, no cause worth fighting for ever does.
In keeping with tradition, Raymond Minucci read the poem Flanders Field and Algonquin singers performed “God Bless America”. Names were read of Southborough veterans who passed away in the last year, plus those buried in the town’s rural cemetery. And once again, service members who died in action of past wars were remembered. The memorial ceremony was concluded with a gun salute and the playing of taps.
You can view the parade and ceremony on Southborough Access Media’s YouTube channel.
