Army Col. (Ret.) Duane Barber delivers the invocation. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Navy veteran Fred Hinchliffe at the Founders Memorial.
For many, Memorial Day this year began at the Fellowship Hall of the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church where volunteers hosted a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. More than 100 townsfolk attended, partaking of pancakes, sausages, fruit salad, coffee, orange juice, and tea. “It’s one of the few annual events that brings people together from all parts of the community,” organizer Greg Stoddard told the Press. He said the event had raised a total of $595 for Clear Path for Veterans and the UU Church. “It’s the kind of event we lost during COVID.”
The sun was warming the crowd with the temperature at 68 degrees as a slight breeze blew the flag waving on the Common. At 10 a.m. the annual Memorial Day parade began to the beat of drums as the color guard and Immaculate Heart of Mary school band marched from Town Hall onto Ayer Road and Fairbank Street toward the town center. The color guard consisted of 13 veterans, led by retired Army Maj. Steve Cronin, followed by 13 Girl Scouts; 36 Boy Scouts; and members of the Fire Department in dress blues. Directed by Brother Peter Martin, the Immaculate Heart of Mary school band included about three dozen members. Sophomore Beatrix McDonaugh was the band’s drum major; trumpet players Josephine Camardo and Marie Clara Dos Santos performed taps at each monument visited by the procession.
The first stop on the parade route was Harvard’s Civil War monument where 2nd Lt. James Nigzus of the Massachusetts National Guard read the general order that inaugurated Memorial Day. Originally, Memorial Day was known as Decoration Day, but the name was changed to Memorial Day after World War II. Retired Army Maj. Ira Ockene presented a wreath at the memorial, followed by the playing of echo taps, in which two buglers, standing some distance apart, play their instruments to achieve an echo effect. Heading toward the Center Cemetery, the parade continued onward with the crowd trailing along.
Stopping in front of the flagpole by the Founders Memorial on top of the tombs in the old burying ground, parade marchers and the crowd waited as Scouts and other children placed pots of single red geraniums on the graves of fallen soldiers. After Navy veteran Fred Hinchliffe presented a wreath and the playing of taps, the parade returned to the Common to honor veterans named on the World War II, Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf wars monuments where Army veteran Steve Colwell laid a wreath.
The parade’s final stop in town was the World War I monument, where retired Army Maj. Steve Cronin was master of ceremonies and retired Army Col.Duane Barber delivered the invocation. Crowding around the speakers and band, approximately 100 people listened to speeches of thanks and music. The Immaculate Heart of Mary School Band played the national anthem as the crowd softly sang along. Following that, retired Army Maj. Nancy Cronin laid a wreath and taps were played. The band continued to play a selection of songs, including “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “Semper Fidelis,” and a rousing drum cadence that drew the applause of onlookers.
Retired Army Maj. David King was the keynote speaker. King said he was stationed at Fort Devens in the 1980s and during his time there was a member of the Harvard town band. His association with Harvard continues as members of his family reside in town. Speaking to the parade-goers, King reflected on the true meaning of Memorial Day. “At the core of our military lie unique themes: the selfless desire to serve and the willingness to sacrifice to defend our nation. … Memorial Day is a day for both grief and celebration, reflecting on the tragic loss of life and recounting the courageousness of their service.”
With King’s speech weighing on spectators’ minds, Girl Scouts Jacquie Wilkins, Ella Green, Gisela Benway, and Victoria Mukii read the names of seven veterans who have died since the last Memorial Day and rang bells for them. Afterward, the crowd and the parade participants dispersed with plans to reconvene at Bellevue Cemetery. In the meantime, the parade marchers went to Still River to pay their respects at the Skillings memorial to honor a fallen soldier from the Korean War. At Bellevue Cemetery, parade-goers placed flowers on gravestones until the parade arrived. Upon arrival, the color guard marched through the cemetery, taps was played, and Colwell placed a wreath.
Part of the color guard continued its journey toward Shaker Cemetery, where eight Shakers who served in the Revolutionary War were buried. There, they completed their last commemoration of the day with taps. Red geraniums were planted beside the cemetery’s distinctive white “lollipop” markers by the children of a Shaker Village resident.
As the parade broke up for the last time at 11:45 a.m. the flags on each grave fluttered, and the echoes of King’s speech were present in everyone’s minds: “On Memorial Day, we reflect and share the experiences of our fallen loved ones, but tomorrow and in the days that follow, we must act. Let us carry their sacrifice with us in our hearts and strive to honor their memory by being good and faithful, hopeful and strong, and committed to building a brighter future for all.”
