Grand Marshal Announced For Westport Memorial Day Parade

WESTPORT, CT — William Vornkahl, President of the Westport Veterans Council, announced Friday that Lawrence “Larry” Aasen has been selected to be the Grand Marshal for this year’s Memorial Day parade and services.

According to a release, Aasen graduated from Hillsboro, North Dakota High School in 1941 and the University of North Dakota with a Journalism degree in 1947. In 1949, he received a Master’s Degree in Public Relations from Boston University.

In World War II, Aasen was a sergeant in the 13th Airborne Division in France. The Division was half paratroppers and half glider soldiers. The Airborne Division’s Mission was to drop behind lines and destroy anything of military value to the enemy.

Aasen was a cryptographer and his job was to encode and decode secret messages. For this job, he had to have security clearance from the FBI.

In 1963, Aasen and his wife Martha moved to Westport. He served on the Westport RTM for 17 years. He is also a member of the Democratic Town Committee, Westport Y’s Men and the Westport Rotary.

The parade will be held on Monday, May 28, beginning on Riverside Avenue at 9 a.m. The Memorial Services will be held immediately following the parade on Veterans Green.

If the parade is cancelled due to weather, the services will be held at 10 a.m. in the Town Hall auditorium.

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