Honoring the Vietnam Sacrifice

As we approach Memorial Day 2013, Melrose Veteran Services pays special tribute to the Vietnam War generation on the 50th anniversary of the start of the war.

The tribute honors the Massachusetts killed in action from the Vietnam War and is currently on display at Ell Pond on Main Street adjacent to the Melrose Vietnam Memorial.

The display holds 1,331 flags, one for each American from Massachusetts killed during the Vietnam War.  Each flag in the tribute is a representation of a life lost too early in service to the nation.

The center flags represent the 11 Melrose soldiers killed in action.  Their names appear on the monument here in Melrose and in Washington D.C.  Their sacrifice is recognized as the centerpiece of the tribute.  Their names are: 

Stephen Thomas Sullivan, Carleton Pierce Miller Jr., Gardner Brewer, David Andrew Bingham, James G. Dunton, Harold Herman Hirtle, Scott Frederick Andresen, Kenneth Warren Ellis, Michael Allen DeProfio, Thomas John Brennan and Richard Louis Norton.

The 10 flags in the front and back of the tribute represent 10 years of war.

Each block of flags surrounding the center tribute represents an American flag flanking the ring of honor.  Each block contains 13 rows with 50 flags per row.

We would like to give special thanks to Mayor Dolan, the City of Melrose, the Melrose Veterans Advisory Board and the Memorial Day Parade Committee for helping to make this idea a reality.

We would also like to go give special thanks the volunteers who helped bring this display to life: the Brodeur Family,  Patrick Driscoll, Vietnam Veteran James Keane and his wife Tanas Houseman, Vietnam Veteran Mike Nocito and his daughter Kelly, Joan Bell and Mary Doyle.