Sentence:  It was the opinion of some of us that these must <WSD>be</WSD> part of the Committeemen who had been in the Battle of the North Bridge , which entitled them to a sort of veteran status , and we felt that if they employed this tactic , it was likely enough the best one . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)