On Sunday, Dec 10th, members of the James E. Coffey Post 3 participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Main St. bridge in Nashua honoring those who gave their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday, Dec 7, 1941. Those who participated for Post 3 were: Sr. Vice Commander, Bob Courtemanche, who helped toss the wreath into the Nashua river; Commander, John York; Jr. Vice Commander, Don Vincent; Auxiliary Unit 3 members Barbara Courtemanche and Kathy Vincent all of whom were part of the flag detail. Steve Ordway, commander of VFW post 483, was in charge of the ceremony and introduced Mayor Jim Donchess who addressed the gathering prior to the rifle salute and playing of taps.
Shown in this Telegraph Staff photo by Dean Shalhoup, Some of the local military veterans who took part in Nashua's annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Sunday salute as Korean War veteran Bob Courtemanche, right, and World War II veteran Dick Mohrmann prepare to toss the ceremonial wreath into the Nashua River, a tradition that memorializes the lives lost during the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
From the pages of the Nashua Telegraph, Dec 11, 2017 by Dean Shalhoup.
"Local veterans pay tribute to 2,403 American lives lost at Pearl Harbor attack"
"Early Sunday morning, as they’ve done each December for many decades, Dick Mohrmann and Bob Courtemanche alternately stood at attention and bowed their heads in prayer for the 2,403 American souls lost on the morning of that day that always will live in infamy.
The men were among about 30 local military veterans and their guests who gathered on a snow-covered Bicentennial Park to mark the 76th anniversary of what President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the “sudden and deliberate attack by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” upon the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor.
The observance, hosted each year on the Sunday nearest Dec. 7, brings together members of local veterans organizations, who brave whatever elements Mother Nature delivers to reflect and remember a day filled with great tragedy, but also a day that would trigger a surge of national pride and spirit that carried through the ensuing World War II.
It was “on a quiet Sunday morning much like this one that hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor,” Mayor Jim Donchess said in addressing the veterans and guests.
While the “destruction that followed will forever be rememberd as one of the worst (events) in American history,” Donchess said the attacks also taught Americans “just how strong our country can be when we all (unite) and support each other.” Steve Ordway, a Vietnam veteran and commander of Nashua Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 483, also delivered remarks at Sunday’s observance, while Korean War veteran George Marineau, Post 483 chaplain, led the participants and guests in prayer.
All eyes then turned to Mohrmann and Courtemanche, who stood holding onto a green funeral wreath.
Mohrmann, 92, a corporal in World War II who served under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and Courtemanche, a Korean War veteran and a director of the New Hampshire Korean War Veterans Association, walked with the wreath to the railing above the Nashua River and paused.
As participants stood at attention and saluted, Mohrmann and Courtemanche tossed the wreath into the river, a tradition that pays tribute to America’s soldiers and sailors who died at sea.
A rifle salute crackled through the chilly morning air, and a bugler followed up with “Taps.”
Among Sunday’s attendees was a contingent of about a dozen members of the U.S. Air Force Junior ROTC program from Nashua High School North.
Donchess, meanwhile, told listeners that America not only recovered from the Pearl Harbor attack, it “became stronger in the process,” much like it did following the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“Despite our many differences,” he said, “Americans were one.”"
Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.
