[Speaker 1] (0:10 - 1:47)
Present the colors. Please rise. It's now my honor to ask the Girl Scouts of Ocean Bay and Boy Scouts from 253 and Cub Scout Pack 55 to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Now I ask Scout Myers-Smith to join us and lead us in singing the National Anthem.

[Speaker 6] (1:58 - 4:19)
O say can you see, O say can you see, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home Please be seated.

[Speaker 1] (4:27 - 4:33)
Now I'd like to call forward Reverend Mark Templeton from the Swamp Scout Fire Department with the opening prayer.

[Speaker 9] (4:38 - 5:20)
Let us pray. Almighty and gracious God, we give you thanks for this day, for this chance to gather in peace, for the opportunity to honor our veterans, to give thanks for their service, give gratitude for all that they have done for this great nation. We ask your blessing upon them.

Ask for your strength, your healing, your courage in all things, as we honor those in our midst who have served and given of themselves. May we follow in their footsteps. Amen.

[Speaker 1] (5:26 - 7:23)
Retire the colors. If I could say thank you to our color guard from the Boston Region Marine Corps Recruiting Command. Thank you very much for being here.

And since I'm a sucker to try to give cheap applause, I want to say happy birthday to the United States Marine Corps. Thank you for being here today. I want to welcome you to be here today on Veterans Day.

Such a great day for the community to come together to honor those who have worn the uniform. The people you see in front of us and the other men and women that are in the crowd that are veterans that are here with us, they really are something that we should emulate. Their service, their sacrifice, their ability to put service above self.

So that's why we're here today, and that's why I'm always happy to see the way Swamp Scout comes together to come out and honor our veterans. So I want to say thank you to every veteran who's here today, and if we could join me in a round of applause. Even Peter.

With that, I'd like to call forward Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald to give the greetings of the town.

[Speaker 7] (7:26 - 9:43)
So, welcome. I just want to thank our veterans. I want to thank our families.

Thank you, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. Being here today is one of our most important responsibilities. Think about the world we live in.

Think about Ukraine and the awful attack at Israel. We can feel safe because of our veterans in this democracy. We can feel safe that we have, since the inception of this democracy, we've had men and women who have worn the uniform to help serve and protect our freedoms.

This is an extraordinary legacy. We're here on sacred ground. All these monuments have the stories of generations of lives that have made sacrifices so that we can take our children to football games and basketball games and community theater productions and do all those things that we love as Americans because of our veterans.

I'm so very proud of the work of our veterans. We're thinking about how to help deal with mental health issues. The single biggest challenge for veterans that served in the Gulf War and Afghanistan is suicide.

We have to talk about that. We have to talk about loneliness. We have to talk about our responsibility as a community to connect with each other and support each other and build a focus around support for the men and women that have given so much.

I'm proud that our veterans are leading in ways that will help support mental health. We know that veterans need veterans. Your support for the individuals that served our country is so critical.

I'm very proud that Swansket continues to wrap their arms around our veterans. On behalf of the town, thank you. I'm certainly excited to roll out a number of programs this year that really will continue that investment and get beyond words when it comes to how we support our veterans' service.

Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (9:52 - 10:40)
If I could, I'd like to introduce some of our elected officials and special guests that are here. Not part of our speaking program, but I want to acknowledge them here. From the Select Board, Peter Spellios is here.

Thank you, Peter. And Mary Ellen Fletcher. And a little bird just told me I missed Katie Phelan.

And I'll tell you that she's out in the crowd and that's kind of the thing you notice a lot of people. They're not really up here trying to, you know, they're with the community. Our next speaker is the Chair of the Select Board.

Ladies and gentlemen, David Grishman.

[Speaker 4] (10:46 - 14:25)
Good morning. Today we pay homage to the unrelenting bravery and dedication that distinguish all those who have earned the title of American veteran. It's an honor that not only a small percentage of Americans can claim, but it's a badge of honor that unites across all ages, regardless of background, because to be a veteran is to have endured and survived challenges most Americans will never know.

And you've done it for us. Thank you. You've done it for America.

To defend and serve American values, to protect our country and our Constitution against all enemies, and to lay a stronger, more secure foundation on which future generations can continue to build a more perfect union. Each of our veterans is a link in a proud chain of patriots that has stood in defense of our country and each understood the price of freedom and each shouldered that burden on our behalf. Our veterans represent the best of America.

You are the spine of America, not just the backbone. You are the spine of this country and all of us, all of us owe you. And so, on Veterans Day and every day, we honor that great day and recommit ourselves to keeping our sacred obligation as a nation to honor what you've done.

We have many obligations to our children, to our elderly, and to those truly in need. We also have many obligations, but one truly sacred obligation is to properly prepare those and equip those who we've sent in harm's way and care for them and their families when they're both deployed and when they return home. This is a lifetime sacred commitment.

It never expires. So, to all mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, spouses, all those who stand alongside our veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors, we've asked so much of you for so long and our nation is grateful. Since 9-11, hundreds of thousands of Americans have served.

So many are still serving in harm's way, and we cannot forget them. We are forever grateful and in awe of what you've accomplished. But in fulfilling their mission, so many veterans and their families have been through hell, some facing deployments after deployments, spending months and years away from their families, missing birthdays, anniversaries, and celebrations.

Well, folks, on Veterans Day, we have to remember that there's no cost, low cost, and certainly not low risk about war for the men and women who fight it. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers return home with unseen psychological wounds of war, the enduring grief borne by our Gold Star families. These are the costs of war that they'll carry, we'll carry, as a town, as a commonwealth, and as a nation, for decades and generations to come.

We lay wreaths, we renew our oaths, we stand in solemn awe of such fidelity, because for us to keep faith with American veterans, we must never forget exactly what was given to us, what each of them was willing to put on the line for us, and we must never forget that it's the mighty arm of the American warrior, never bending, never breaking, never yielding, generation after generation that secured for us the blessings of a nation that still stands today as a beacon of liberty, democracy, and justice around the world. May God bless all of you, God bless all American veterans and those who proudly earn that title, and may God protect our troops.

Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (14:34 - 14:39)
And now our next speaker from the state delegation is Representative Jenny Armini to say a few words.

[Speaker 5] (14:46 - 18:04)
Good morning everyone. Happy Veterans Day. You know, Veterans Day is our opportunity to thank and honor those who are willing to write a blank check for our country, those willing to give the last measure of their devotion.

But service doesn't end when you're discharged. Veterans honestly are the gifts that keep on giving. Veterans, you teach our children history and the importance of service.

You reinforce for all of us our shared values. You remind us that we are only standing on this beautiful spot on the Massachusetts coast because you were willing to fight for it. As your state representative, I see it as my job to make sure you receive tangible benefits of service.

I look forward to working with Governor Healey on her new HEROES Act, including increasing the annuity for disabled veterans. You know, recent polls show low morale among veterans. I hope today and every day Massachusetts' 380,000 veterans feel differently.

Here in Swampscott, we are fortunate to have an extraordinary commitment to veterans. The community's spirit is reflected in the select board, our veterans agent, our veterans organizations, the town administrator. You know, I always love talking to Chair Grishman about veterans.

The passion that he brings to veterans' issues is very deep, and it resonates with me because, as I think I told you last year, my dad was a World War II veteran. And so, I appreciate that spirit and the spirit of Swampscott. It's truly extraordinary.

You know, next year we're going to celebrate 80 years since D-Day. It's unbelievable. 80 years.

So, I was doing some reading, and there was a letter that a D-Day daughter, so the daughter of a veteran who was on Omaha Beach, wrote to President Reagan back in 1984. And she wrote that, D-Day will always be a big event. It changed everyone's lives then and now.

Everyone takes it for granted. Maybe that's what made my dad different. After he fought one of the most important battles in our nation's history, he could never take anything for granted again.

And that's what we're doing here today. We're saying, we don't take you for granted. We don't take our history for granted.

We honor you, and we thank you. Happy Veterans Day.

[Speaker 1] (18:15 - 18:47)
We're very lucky to have with us here today someone, actually Mary Ellen Fletcher connected us, and I'm thrilled. Major General Hurley Chaplain is now a clergy over at St. Thomas and over here at St. John's, St. Thomas Aquinas. He's a former chaplain, in charge of chaplains for the entire United States Army, and again, we're lucky to have him with us, and I ask him to please come up and say a few words.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chaplain Hurley.

[Speaker 2] (18:51 - 22:44)
I know it's a little chilly, and I cut my words down to a short 20 minutes. That's a joke. I don't have any.

But I just wanted to, you know, as someone who is a veteran, someone who is you know, over 26 years of service, been on several deployments, and I just want to recognize, I want to appreciate the town of Swampscott in making this event, or making this time, Veterans Day, an important part of this community, because you know, as we just heard, veterans are a critical part of our community. And today we live in a world where, at least in our culture, where we have it's less than 1% of the population that actually serves. And up to 1% of that population, 61% of that 1% come from military families.

So you know, the veterans who are among us in our community, they're really kind of few, if you think about it, but so vital to the country, to the community, and so important that we recognize and thank those who do give themselves. And I just want to end with this story. When I was chaplain at Fort Campbell for the 101st, we were deploying a lot.

And we had gotten into this great habit of welcoming home the units when they would return. So they wouldn't all go at once, but you know, a few thousand here, a few thousand there. But every time they came back, we'd have a big event, families, a ceremony of sorts to welcome back those who had just finished their deployment.

And it was very successful and very important to, again, welcome back and thank people for giving themselves in that way. But what happened was we realized that there's a lot of people out there, veterans, who have never been recognized. So we had a welcome home ceremony for all veterans, and we had people coming, and I'm talking about, so from World War II to the current, to our current time, we had people coming from all over the country to come to this welcome home ceremony.

And I remember there was a gentleman that I met, he was from California, he was a Vietnam vet, and the man was in tears. He had never before been welcomed and thanked by anyone, not a single person. He was in tears.

It is so important that we do what we're doing here today. It is so important that we recognize, when we see veterans and run into them, to thank them and to recognize the great dedication that they have for this country and for all of us. So again, I thank you, I thank the town and appreciate what we are doing right here now.

It's so important to who we are as a people. Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (23:00 - 23:24)
This brings us to our keynote speaker, Captain Shane Wilson from the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Just a couple years ago, he returned back from a deployment in Hornet, Africa. He's a field artillery officer.

He's commanded men and women in harm's way. We're proud to have him here with us. Ladies and gentlemen, Captain Wilson.

[Speaker 3] (23:30 - 27:35)
Good morning. I'm Captain Shane Wilson of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. I first want to start off by expressing my gratitude for being invited to speak here with you all today and share this beautiful day here in Swampscott with you all.

Thank you to Sergeant First Class Mike and his team at the Lynn Swampscott Veterans Services. Thank you, Mike, for not only what you do on Veterans Day, but what you do all year round in the Massachusetts National Guard. Thank you to Major General Tyre Hurley.

Thank you to the town administrator Sean Fitzgerald and the Swampscott Select Board, as well as our state officials here with us today. Additionally, thank you to my fellow veterans for being here today and for all of your service to this country. Thank you to the friends, family, guests in attendance at today's ceremony.

Additionally, I want to also thank those who are currently deployed and unable to be with us here today. I'm honored to have the opportunity to speak with you today. My journey to join the military began when I attended a wrestling camp at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. I've always admired and looked up to those in the military. However, watching the cadets march and conduct ruck marches in formation lit fire in me to serve and join the Army. I started my career not far from here, in Beverly, Massachusetts, where I joined the Army ROTC program at Nicaragua College.

I commissioned as the 2nd Lieutenant of the Massachusetts Army National Guard as a field artillery officer, where then I completed my field artillery basic officer leadership course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I've served in the 1st Battalion 101st Field Artillery Regiment deploying to the Horn of Africa, as Mike said, as a task force fire support officer, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Since returning, I've served as the headquarters detachment commander of the 51st Troop Command and worked full-time as a training and plans officer in the Region 1 Homeland Response Force.

Something I've learned in my career so far is that all service members have their own path. No two experiences are the same. Every member has a unique experience in the military, while still having the core values that run through every generation of our military.

It connects each generation of service member with another. Honor, duty, and personal courage are all shared by all service members throughout their time in the military, regardless of when they serve. Today, we celebrate Veterans Day together, as a day that bonds together all generations of service members in our country through our common core values.

Starting the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, Armistice Day became a day to honor those who serve and preserve the freedom that we enjoy in this country. Although it stemmed from the end of World War I, Americans have been preserving that freedom for long before the war to end all wars ended. Here in Massachusetts, we are fortunate to have a long and storied history of service.

The Army National Guard was founded on December 13, 1636, here in Massachusetts. Today, four of the oldest units in the U.S. Army trace their lineage back to the founding of the National Guard. These units have served in colonial conflicts to the war and terror of today, preserving American freedom through dedication, personal courage, and selfless service.

Today, we celebrate the veterans of all branches who have acted on the call to serve our great nation from the start of the U.S. military through to today. In closing, I want to thank everyone in attendance today for your support of veterans everywhere, and for having me join you today here in Swampscott. Thank you again to Sergeant First Class Mike Sweeney and his team at the Lynn-Swampscott Veterans Services, and the Swampscott staff that's here with us today.

Thank you again to my fellow veterans. Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (27:45 - 33:40)
So this comes to, thank you again sir one more time, thank you again for Captain Wilson, please round of applause. This is really what makes, I think, our event here in Swampscott special. Every year, the children from Swampscott Elementary Schools come out, led by Aaron D'Alessio, to give gifts to our veterans, so I'd ask our veterans to please rise, and have the children come on up and present them with these gifts.

And also I'd ask everyone to please join me as we thank all of our veterans for their service. And I'd be remiss if I didn't ask if there's any veterans in the audience who would like to join us up here, please come up. As a part of this, there were also cards given to the veterans from the students over at Essex Tech, so I want to say thank you to them as well.

While we still have them standing, I want to one more time please, we can just give a round of applause for all of our veterans and say thank you for their service, thank you so much. Please be seated. We only have 45 minutes longer than that.

So one thing I want to bring up, and Aaron D'Alessio brought this up, so there was a contest for the students to make magnets and other patriotic pictures. The winner, drum roll please, the winner was Alice Gentry from the 4th grade over at the Stanley Elementary School. So her art and the art from the other students that took part are going to be in different places all over town.

This is the big winner, this is Alice's entry. And I'm not sure we have the authority, but David Grishman and I, I think we both came to the, we made a command decision that this is going to be in the entry to town hall, so you guys can come on and see it going forward. I think that was one of those asking for forgiveness, not provision, but we'll get it done.

But one more time around, please just say thank you again for Alice, this is that kind of stuff when you, please. And it's, again, I keep going back to why I love this program so much and the way the community comes together. You hear a lot of people say, you know, maybe another generation doesn't understand the sacrifice of the older ones.

And frankly, we have to look in the mirror, that responsibility belongs to us as parents and as people in the community. We have to make sure that our children and their friends and their family and their schoolmates that they understand that frankly, that the freedoms, everything we talked about today was secure by men and women, just like the ones that are in front of us right now. So I want to say thank you, not only to the schools, to Aaron Delisio, but to the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and all the other youth groups that are here today that keep this intergenerational responsibility, that really take it seriously and keep it going.

So thank you to the young men and women that are here today, thank you. And I think no more fitting from that will be our next presentation will be from 1st Sergeant Dave Gustafson, retired from the Army National Guard, Vietnam veteran. He's a good looking man coming towards the podium right now.

And he's going to read first, freedom isn't free.

[Speaker 8] (33:57 - 35:38)
Freedom isn't free, by Kelly Strong. I watched the flag pass by one day. It floated in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it, and then he stood at ease. I looked at him in uniform, so young, so tall, so proud. With hair cut square and eyes alert, he stand out in any crowd.

I thought, how many men like him have fallen through the years? How many died on foreign soil? How many mothers' tears?

How many plots, pilots, planes shot down? How many died at sea? How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No freedom is not free. I heard the sound of taps one night when everything was still. I listened to the bugle play and felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times that taps had meant amen, when a flag had draped a coffin of a brother or a friend. I thought of all the children, of the mothers and the wives, of fathers, sons, and husbands with interrupted lives. I thought about a graveyard at the bottom of the sea, of unmarked graves in Arlington.

No, freedom is not free. Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (35:54 - 36:00)
I would now ask Major General Chaplain Hurley to lead us in the closing prayer.

[Speaker 2] (36:07 - 37:05)
I invite you to pause and place yourselves in God's presence. Almighty God, we stand here grateful for all the gifts that you have blessed us with. You are the source of all that is good and all that is true.

You are the source of all those who give themselves in sacrifice in service of others. And so we go forward today with grateful hearts for all these blessings, for this gathering, this time, for this beautiful sun that warms our bodies as your spirit warms our souls and our hearts. Keep us always mindful of those around us who give themselves in service.

And we ask all this in your holy name. Amen. Amen.

[Speaker 1] (37:22 - 40:07)
And with that, I would ask you to join me in a moment of silence as we remember those who remember the fallen, remember those of our friends who have not made it home, and those who have lost. Thank you. So this brings us to the end of the program.

I want to say thank you so much for being here, and I think as you might imagine, a lot of these programs don't happen by accident. I want to say thank you to the Swampscott High School Television. Thank you so much for everything you guys do in making this possible.

So I want to again say thank you to the Town, in particular, with us today, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the DPW, all the work that got this allowed us to get this done today, and our Veterans Organizations down at the Veterans Crossing. One thing in particular, I know every year they welcome everyone back. They've caned it.

It's good food to come on back to Veterans Crossing. The VFW Post 1240 is sponsoring the coalition, and they would love to have you down there to break bread with them. With that, coming up, a couple events that are coming up that I'd be remiss if I did not mention quickly.

A week from Monday, we'll be hosting Hero Meals, which is our thank you to our veterans around the holidays. Donated to the Military Friends Foundation at 212 Humphrey Street. Please sign up.

We have flyers. It's an incredible thing. It's a thank you, and it's a box with all the fixings and a gift card for all the Thanksgiving for Turkey.

We want people to take advantage of it and come down, because again, it's a thank you, and we want to make sure that people understand that they're thought of around the holidays. Next month, we're doing Wreaths Across America. For those of you who were there last year, it's an incredible ceremony.

We'd love to have you there. Please come down and feel free to buy a wreath. Also, this afternoon, there's going to be a cornhole tournament over here on Town Hall 1, run by the Judon Foundation.

I just want to give that a plug, and if there's anything else, please feel free to come up when we're done. I want to say thank you to everybody, and once more, say thank you to the community for coming out here every year, doing this the right way. Again, it means a lot.

As a veteran myself, we always talk about it. Also, it's just an incredible community. That's why, frankly, I chose it as my home.

So thank you very much, and happy Veterans Day.