War Memorial Dedicated on Memorial Day

.......... MIDDLEBORO GAZETTE-- 6-1-1967 ……….. Perfect weather and one of the largest crowds in recent
years marked the observance of Memorial Day here Tuesday. Parade units and a large gathering of
townfolk assembled on the Town Hall lawn for the dedication of the new War Memorial.
.....The drive to raise $4,000 for the War Memorial was spearheaded by Middleboro Police Chief
Harold E. Tower, Jr., and started when he was Commander of Middleboro’s American Legion Simeon L.Nickerson Post 64 back in 1962. The goal was reached last December.
.....Purchased from Barnicoat Memorial Company of Middleboro, the large central panel is of granite from the quarries of Barre, Vermont with a weight of 3 ½ tons. Total weight of the entire monument exceeds 21 tons.
.....After carefully checking the records of local persons who died during wartime, and the spelling of their names, Police Chief Harold E. Tower, Jr., presented the names inscribed on the War Memorial.
......Names to be listed are : -
............WORLD WAR 1 : - Harold R. Ashley, Francis P. Breck, John Glass, Jr., Joseph Meglio, Daniel McLeod, Simeon L. Nickerson, Fred A. Robinson, Nina L. Seymour, William Green, Isaac C. Griffin, Roger L. Keedwell, William H. Messer, Charles E. Reed, Joseph G. Rose and Harry M. Rogers.
............KOREAN WAR : - Leo A. Gamache and Alfred R. Gauthier.
............WORLD WAR 2 :- Thomas C. Archer, Irving F. Mitchell, Albert B. Lang, Paul C. Mitchell, Leonard W. MacDonald, Harry C. Martins, William L. Sukeforth, John J. Fasula, Robert A. Sullivan, Russell W. Tripp, Henry A. Bump, Armand J. April, Robert A. Crozier, Donald A. Quagan, Vernon A. Porter, Earl L. Casey, Leo O. Forcier, Vincent A. Galfre, Vernon M. Haynes, Charles W. Teel, Thomas F. O’Brien, Robert B.
Stuart, George R. Huxley and Edward E. Pierce.
............VIETNAM WAR :- Larry L. Stoner and Roger P. Kay.
......Stanley Barnicoat engraved the names of the town’s men and women who lost their lives in four wars.
......The dedication ceremony opened with an invocation by Rev. Gerald O. Hindemith of the North Congregational Church, followed by the National Anthem played by the Memorial High School Band under the direction of Richard E. Nelson.
.....Ernest B. Montrond, State American Legion Sergeant-at Arms, gave the main address..
.....“Taps” was played by William Lacombe and John Nervish of the MHS band. The benediction was pronounced by Rev. Bernard St. Hilaire curate at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church.
.....Attorney Fletcher Clark, Jr., and first Commander of American Legion Post 64, was the Parade Grand Marshall.
..... Participating in the parade were: The MHS band; the Burkland Junior High band under the direction of Luther Churchill, Jr.; The Sacred Heart Tartans; John Glass, Jr., Post 2188 VFW; Simeon L. Nickerson Post 64 AL; VFW Auxiliary; Disabled American Veterans; Nell Mello’s Twirlers.
.....Also, The Junior Red Cross; Girl Scouts and Brownies; Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts; Town Manager DiMambro; and Selectmen Paul T. Anderson, Leo Kahian, and George W. Stetson.
…………..( The above article was compiled by Post 64 Historian Bob Lessard In 2014 from several published sources, which had been saved by then Post publicist John Rockwell Jr.,during the time frame of construction and dedication of the War Memorial.)