Reading Dedicates New Vietnam Veterans Memorial At Veterans Day Event

READING, MA — Veterans Day events in Reading drew a large crowd to Reading Memorial High School on Friday as the town dedicated a new memorial to local veterans of the Vietnam War.

Looking to honor all who served during the conflict, the memorial and its dedication ceremony this week also specifically noted the sacrifice of seven men who attended Reading Memorial High School and later died in the war.

Peter Bredbury, Robert Croce, John Hanscom, Michael Havel, Robert Holt, Bruce Parmelee and Edward Putney were all killed in action in Vietnam.

“This is a great thing and a great thing for the town of Reading,” Reading Veterans Service Officer Will Valliere said of the memorial in comments to Patch after the ceremony.

Valliere opened a roughly hour-long ceremony on Friday with welcome/opening remarks. He was followed by comments from an array of other speakers.

Among them, longtime Reading teacher, coach and decorated Vietnam Veteran Hal Croft addressed the crowd, recalling experiences in battle in Vietnam and calling attention to the challenges facing veterans with invisible wounds of war, such as post traumatic stress disorder.

Brigadier General Jack Hammond, who spoke earlier in the event, later handed out Vietnam War pins to Vietnam veterans in the crowd.

Hammond, who has retired from the military, is currently the Chief Executive for Home Base, which works to help veterans with invisible wounds.

Friday’s services included stories and comments from loved ones of the seven men specifically honored with this memorial.

With rain in the forecast, clear skies lingered on Friday morning for a large-turnout event at Reading Memorial High School.

Long in the making, this milestone was significant for Valliere and others in town who have worked collaboratively to add a new commemorative space on the Reading Memorial High School campus.

Valliere called the space and the turnout to dedicate it “a testament to the community."

The new memorial, Valliere said, drew financial backing from a variety of sources. He thanked those backers on Friday.

Valliere further thanked colleagues in town departments among other supporters for this project.

Now standing prominently near the main entrance to Reading Memorial High School, the new Vietnam Veterans memorial drew its share of young people to its dedication on Friday. Some were young relatives of veterans both living and deceased. Others were in uniform as Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Still others blended into the crowd with family.

For Valliere, that underscores an added value for this type of monument approaching the 50-year anniversary of the Vietnam War’s end.

“It’s history,” he said. “This is history.”

"They did their duty and they did it because that's what they were asked to do. They did it without reservation and hesitation. They did their job," Valliere said of members of the military such as the seven fallen Reading men memorialized on the town's new Vietnam memorial.

"Today is a testament to (them)," Valliere continued.

The first item on a larger schedule of events on Friday, the dedication ceremony for Reading’s new Vietnam War Memorial was followed by a separate ceremony to dedicate Reading’s new high school running track to Croft.