When Police Chief Stephen Williams returned home from the Vietnam War, the reception he got was "terrible," he said.
"I don't want that to happen to those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, I don't want that to happen to them," said Williams.
"There's all sorts of support now we never had when we came home - and it's only right," Williams said.
Placing a war memorial honoring those who fought in the current conflicts next to the existing World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War monuments on the common "is a fitting tribute to people in our military," said Williams, a member of the veteran's monument committee.
Franklin's Veterans Agent Bob Fahey put the committee together in November 2006, at the behest of Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting, with the intention of honoring fallen troops from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Thousands of Bay State residents will observe Memorial Day today with cookouts, parties, days at the beach or soaking up sun with family and friends.
While she doesn't begrudge anyone having a good time this holiday weekend, Jodi Cabino-Cipriano wants people to remember the cost every Memorial Day entails.
The Franklin resident will this year mark the third Memorial Day since her son, Shayne Cabino, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. She said the holiday this week should serve as a reminder of the cost her family - and thousands more like it across the country - have paid.
"It'll never be the same," she said of the holiday. "I'll never have it again. We'll never, ever, ever be complete."
Cabino joined the Marine Corps after graduating from high school and was just 19 when he was sent to Iraq. He was killed along with three others when an improvised explosive device exploded outside Fallujah.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
| The Franklin Lodge of Elks yesterday posthumously bestowed the medal of valor on three local soldiers killed in Iraq. |
The lodge presented the awards to the families of Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Robert Pirelli, Marine Lance Cpl. Shayne Cabino and Marine Gunnery Sgt. Elia Fontecchio.