ah recovering from the horrors of the civil war peoples and cities and towns across the country gathered to honor those union and confederate soldiers who were given their lives celebrating the first decoration day and were asked after world war nation came to again together again to honor those who had fallen in the service of their country renamed memorial day the last monday in may is when people remember and honor the memory of all the bennett women who fought and died in all american wars and conflicts as throughout our country's history thousands of massachusetts citizens of fought in wars and conflicts to defend our safety and way of life and whereas their legacy of patriotism and dedication to country is an inspiration to all americans and whereas it is appropriate you know massachusetts citizens remember the bravery of those who gave our lives so their sacrifices serve as a reminder of the cost of our freedom now for they are now tradition you belong to memorial day holiday which we now celebrate and has been expanding to hire all americans who perished while in military service in defense of our freedom decoration day clegg's of our veterans tombstones in our own cemetery our ceremony today is held in the historic government cemetery which was established in eighteen fifty nine as one of the first orders of business after bell months of corp i'm sure you will agree with me that it is truly a well kept beautiful and peaceful place please join me in recognizing bellman cemetery staff who worked tirelessly to make this cemetery a place of solace for families and friends of those who are laid to rest here we are grateful and thank you for maintaining the cemetery so beautifully what inspires our youth to sacrifice off for the sake of our freedom which we hold so dear is american witness what is its stake we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal that they are in all rights and that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish their government should it become destructive to these rights and to institute new governments to effect their safety in avenues so we have americans we don't have a king we don't have an emperor and we don't have a religion that whispers love to our youth that must as others still do instead we have a universal idea born of a yearning for freedom in holding that all are equal in and out with inalienable rights that must be guaranteed by a government of the people it is this american ideal that is truly worthy of our use the reply i can w melbourne monitoring our fallen heroes you know our warriors you know we are certainly our ingo's folks today in their families we believe that this time of belmont memorial ceremony is one way for all of us to remember and honor those fallen heroes however today we have a special guest with us and i'm will i am very pleased to recognize into asked to come to the podium but i would like to do and present colonel combat decorated veteran who lit up marines on multiple combat deployments from the initial of vision of iraq in two thousand and three through the surge of forces into afghanistan in two thousand and nine mike recently retired as a colonel following twenty four years of active duty across the mall and he has returned here to belmont with his family to settle in so i thought this time we'd like to walk and colonel michael cal our first responders fellow veterans and fellow americans and most importantly mrs curtis as well as any other gold star families here in attendance here home to have the opportunity to join you today honoring the ultimate sacrifice made by the brave men and women who died while serving our nation so you carry in the security and freedoms that define the american way of life and i'm once for a tradition is a ridge when i have the opportunity to march in it as bob mentioned it is something that makes them on very special fell in battle but more recently in one nine hundred seventy one it became the last day of the last monday in may and really in span almost the unofficial beginning of summer  two thousand congress passed a national moment of remember intact in an effort to make sure that we give back to recognize those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so i ask you all today to look at today as an opportunity to get back into making a difference when you step back and look at all the sacrifices been made since seven hundred seventy six one point five million americans have given their life in battle he's americans did not choose when they went to war know how they died in that people made that choice for them and it will always be our responsibility to defend ourselves if we want to preserve the freedoms that define america we're looking for american heroes who's truly courageous and inspirational courage and set them apart turn off your t v put down the i phone and instead prefer today's program because there right there in front of you a few things that i learned just a little bit of research on those belmont residents who gave their life in battle is that they served in every prance in every service most won't hear but many were drafted going back to the korean war their average age when they died was twenty four their acts of courage were tremendous the number first went missing before they were declared dead killed  action months and perhaps even years later and three remain missing to this very day going forward i ask each of you here listening today to take the time to educate a young boy or girl on the true meaning of memorial day because whether they realize it or not their generation is one step closer to risk it all to safeguard americans freedoms in the future this generation is unique they are the first generation to be born into and to grow up during a time of war that is both unprecedented and a grim reality that in my opinion we have a long way to go to adequately address i also ask that each of you read dedicate your efforts to focus current conversations not on want to   us put one on one actually unites us and that is that we are all americans listen to the noise that you hear behind us right now the children plane across the street and grocery park that's what freedom sounds like that's worth defending and that's what we'll lose in pray for men and women don't continue to stand up and defend it and believe me there are a lot of bad people out there that want to take that very sound away from us at every opportunity so in closing god bless america let us all remain forever grateful for those who gave their lives to defend it on our behalf thank you and several fed our as the veteran service officer i see evidence of honor in appreciation everywhere i see that the veterans coffee hours at the senior center i see it in our schools i just aren't this past friday at the elementary schools and at the high school i see i saw it at the high school were there capturing the histories of our veterans and it don't want remembers initiative that's being taken at the high school and don't want media and also from the gaumont veterans group that are building that memorial i see it in this community who is just recognize itself as a purple heart community don't want is a wonderful town it's a strong community we love each other we support each other we recognize or remember our veterans our phone heroes you know our warriors i mean individuals every day who ask me how they can be of help and they step up and give so much of their own time because they appreciate what our veterans and heroes have given us we remember of we remember those who come on who have served and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice let's never forget now we will read the names i will read the names of those who have given so much from the civil war william benson morris marsh albert c frost scholls being marsh james mcguiness grounds we want to be sure to recognize the boy scouts grow scouts a cub scouts in their pack leaders and all the young people who have given so much of their time and effort to make this a meaningful and special occasion  these marine corps colonel mike allen and his family for his service and recognizing all of those and got more who have given so much in particular i'd like to say thanks and show our appreciation to ne n c faith who has worked in  cemetery office for so many years and supported and helped us in our families and burying their loved ones in the cemetary we wish you the very presenter retirement with both her and a husband and me we wish them well thank you what we conclude here today if we could just moment just take a moment of silence to remember those who are out protecting our own men and women of our armed forces who are protecting the freedoms that we have taken for granted in this country and we have every day