[Speaker 9] (0:02 - 0:14)
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[Speaker 1] (0:22 - 2:06)
And I'd ask you to please remain standing for the National Anthem. Please be seated. Does that mean you, John?

You're right, man. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd now like to call forward U.S. Army First Sergeant, retired David Gustafson, to lead us in prayer.

[Speaker 7] (2:16 - 3:00)
Dear Lord, today we honor our veterans, those who gave their best when called upon to serve and protect the country. We pray that you will bless them, Lord, for their unselfish service in the continued struggle to preserve our freedoms, our safety, our country's heritage for all of us. Bless them abundantly for the hardships they faced, for the sacrifices they made, for their many different contributions to America's ability to live free.

We respect them, we thank them, we honor them, we are proud of them, and we pray that you will watch over these special people and bless them with peace and happiness. In God's name we pray, amen.

[Speaker 1] (3:43 - 8:43)
I apologize for the delay. We had a little bit of a wind incident and our wreath got blown over. Good morning.

My name is Mike Sweeney and I'm the Director of Veteran Services and I want to welcome you here today for our 2024 Veterans Day Ceremony. I want to thank you for being here to honor the veterans that are here and to ensure that we continue to mark this day. 2024 is the 70th anniversary of Veterans Day.

As we all know, it started off as Armistice Day after World War I. In 1954, one June 1954, Congress passed and President Eisenhower signed into law the change from Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor veterans of all wars. President Kennedy once said, as we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

These words ring especially true as we look out at this outstanding group of veterans before us today. Today we honor their legacy because they have lived by the words honor, duty, sacrifice, and loyalty. Loyalty to this great nation and loyalty to the men and women who we have served with.

So please join me in a round of applause for all the veterans that are here today on Veterans Day. I'd like to start by saying thank you to Ethan and his crew from Swamp Squad Television for putting this together today for the audio and visual so people can see it at home. Thank you very much for them to come out here.

And I want to name some of our elected officials that are here with us today. Essex County Clerk of Courts Tom Driscoll is with us. Thank you for being here, Tom.

From the Select Board, Mary Ellen Fletcher, Katie Phelan, Doug Thompson. Thank you for being here. Earlier today at the breakfast, Senator Creighton was here, so I want to say thank you to Senator Creighton for being here.

Our first speaker today is our Acting Town Administrator, Gino Cressa. I want to say thank you to Gino for all the work he's done, he and his crew. Anyone who's looked around and seen these, the banners that are all across town with the names and pictures of veterans on there in front of us.

Not coincidentally, as we look right up, we see Captain Jennifer Harris and Specialist Jared Raymond. And we're blessed today to have Ray Harris and Jackie Raymond with us here today. I want to say thank you to them for always being here and gracing us with your presence.

And as usual with Gino, when I said I wanted to thank him for the banners up there, he pointed out who actually did the work. So this whole project, it's gone on for a little while, and as you can see, we're going to continue on next year. So please, if you're interested in getting your name and a loved one on there, please let us know.

We need a good picture. Sometimes that's not so easy to get, and I know that. But please, we're happy to work with you.

But Gino made me make a point to say thank you. The idea came from the select board, Mary Ellen Fletcher, and from the DPW, Derek Pittman and Nick Conti, who actually put them up. So I want to say thank you to them very much.

Diane Marchese from the select board, I want to say thank you for all of her work with it. And I also would be remiss if I didn't thank my wife, Sarah, who did all the graphic work for it. So I want to say thank you to my wife.

As you look around, I encourage you through the week, or if they're going to be up for a month, please walk through town, look at them, see them, and really just take a moment to pause and remember their service. Some of the donations that have been placed by it were by the Rotary, who I actually, I believe they also sponsored the breakfast this morning at the Senior Center. So I want to say thank you to the Rotary.

Ladies and gentlemen, our acting town administrator, Gino Cresta.

[Speaker 8] (8:57 - 9:47)
Thank you, Mike. As many of you know, I'm not a man of many words, so I'll keep this brief. But happy Veterans Day to everyone who's taken time out of their busy lives to pay homage to Swamp Scouts veterans.

Thank you. Thank you to all Swamp Scouts veterans for your commitment to protect our country. As we all know, Veterans Day is a day when we pause to honor the men and women who have served our country.

Each year when I come out here, it's been for several years, I'm always impressed by the number of young individuals that show up year after year to take time out of their busy day. Thank you all. It's important to remember why you have a day off from either work or school.

I'd like to thank you all for coming here today and your continued support of the Swamp Scout veterans. Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (9:56 - 10:00)
And now I'd like to call forward from the Swamp Scout Select Board, David Grishman.

[Speaker 2] (10:05 - 14:14)
Good morning, and what a beautiful morning we have today. Today we pay homage to the unrelenting bravery and dedication that distinguish all of those who have earned the title of American veteran. It's an honor that not only a small percentage of Americans can claim, but also it's a badge of courage 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. 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 the proud chain of patriots that has stood in defense of our country. And each, each understood the price of freedom, and each shouldered that burden on our behalf.

Our veterans represent the best of America. You are the very spine of America, not just a backbone. You're the spine of this country.

And all of us, all of us owe you. Regardless of whether you were a veteran from Swampskate, a veteran from Lynn, or a veteran from any other city or town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Folks, on Veterans Day, we have to always remember that there's nothing no cost, low cost, and certainly not low risk about war for the women and men who fight it.

There are incredible costs of war that you, our veterans, will carry as a town and as a Commonwealth and as a nation for decades to come. Today we lay wreaths, we renew 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 each of us.

And so on Veterans Day and every day, we should be honoring that great debt and continuously be recommitting ourselves to keeping our sacred obligation as a nation to honor what you've done. But I have to ask myself, do we as a town truly do this day in and day out? For the last several years, there have been efforts underway for the town to partner with the VFW Post 1240 and together work to construct 40 units of veteran senior housing.

The intention was always to work collaboratively and work together, town and veterans, not only to build housing but also to provide services to the veterans of Swampscott as well as the region. The future of the VFW Post 1240 should not be discussed behind closed doors. And the future of the VFW Post 1240 should not be determined by elected officials.

But it should be through discussion and dialogue by those who will be directly impacting you. Our veterans have served selflessly and valiantly, traits that I as a parent want my children to emulate. As a town, we should treat all veterans with honesty, integrity and respect at all times.

As a town, we are expected to do what we said we will do. As a baseline, not as a ceiling. I look forward to bringing the conversation about the future of VFW Post 1240 from behind closed doors and welcome the participation of all of you here this morning.

Our veterans have fought for us and we must never forget it is 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 the beacon of liberty, democracy and justice around the world. And now our veterans need us to fight for them and to fight for the future of VFW Post 1240.

And believe you me, I intend to fight with you. May God bless you all. God bless all American veterans and those who proudly earn that title.

And may God protect our troops. Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (14:29 - 14:32)
I'd now like to call forward State Representative Jenny Armini.

[Speaker 3] (14:39 - 18:40)
Good morning. Good morning. Happy Veterans Day.

We owe the men and women who served in our country's armed forces a deep debt of gratitude. They chose to serve. They chose to put themselves in harm's way in defense of democracy and all we hold dear.

We are here today to honor them, those of you still with us. These men and women are living, breathing testaments to the greatness of our nation. They are role models for our children.

They are keepers of the flame of service and selflessness. That's why I was so proud to support the HERO Act, which is expanding and revitalizing veteran services in Massachusetts for the first time in 20 years. Let's never forget, we are home to the First National Guard, the birthplace of the American Revolution, the birthplace of the American Navy, the first to declare that disabled veterans must be cared for, the first to establish local veteran service officers, and so much more.

Thank you to the town of Swamscott for giving us daily reminders of their greatness with the banners hanging up around town. I wish my dear dad had been a Swamscott resident. I recently read a story that captures the depth of devotion to country felt by those who serve.

It's not a story of battlefield heroism. It's a quiet story of abiding loyalty and love. As most of you know, former Senator John McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for nearly six years.

But you may not have heard about Mike Christian. Mike was Senator McCain's cellmate, and he was a patient and clever guy. He crafted a sewing needle out of bamboo, and over time, he collected scraps of red and white cloth from the care packages prisoners occasionally received.

With those scraps, Mike sewed an American flag into his blue work shirt. And every afternoon, before the two men ate their soup, they would hang Mike's shirt on the wall and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Now one day, Mike's shirt was discovered by his captors.

He was taken outside and beaten severely. They punctured his eardrum, they broke many ribs, they dragged him bleeding and senseless back to his cell. Here, I'd like to read John McCain's own words.

Before drifting off, I happened to look toward a corner of the room where one of the four naked light bulbs that were always illuminated in our cell cast a dim light on Mike Christian. He had crawled there quietly when he thought the rest of us were sleeping, With his eyes nearly swollen shut from the beating, he'd quietly picked up his needle and begun sewing a new flag. That's what we do as Americans.

We don't let others define our patriotism. We stay true to our values. We keep going, regardless of the circumstances.

And like these veterans here, we always, always sew a new flag. Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (18:49 - 21:32)
Thank you. I'd like to take a moment to say thank you. One of the things I think that makes this what Swampscot does every year, and this has been going on, I remember when I first started this job talking to Jimmy Schultz.

And one of the things he was proudest of was the nature of this program, where the children of the community come out and say thank you to the veterans. I think that that really is a special thing, and I think as a parent, and I think we always talk, and as we get older, and sometimes we don't want to say we're getting older, but my gray hair disagrees with me. We always say the next generation, boy, these kids, they don't understand things, they don't understand.

Well, that's our responsibility. That's our responsibility as parents. It's our responsibility as educators and leaders in the community.

And I want to say thank you to Swampscot, to the residents who come out with so many children here. I think it's such a good indicator of the health of the town. I want to say thank you to the parents and to all the youth groups and all the who come out here to honor our veterans every year.

Thank you so much. With that, I'd also want to say thank you to the Swampscot Fire Department, who's here today. Thank you so much for being here.

And to the Swampscot Police Department, in particular one retired Swampscot police officer, Ted Delano, retired detective Ted Delano is here with us. Thank you. You know, today one of the things that the police department organizes every month is a mental health task force.

So they work with people who are having mental health issues. And Ted was the one that reached out to me and said he wanted to bring a veteran to the group to find out about benefits and services and ways to help veterans. I can tell you that he, off duty, on duty, he would call me from people's homes.

He's a good man, and he really cares about veterans. So I want to one more time say thank you to Ted Delano. And before I move on, I want to say with us today, Commander from the VFW, Nelson Leon.

Nelson Leon, thank you for being here. And we're going to be there inviting everybody down to the VFW for a coalition after this, so the whole town is welcome. And with that, I'd like to introduce the DAV Chapter 64 Commander, Jeffrey Blonder, to say a few words about an event they have coming up.

[Speaker 5] (21:37 - 23:28)
Thank you, Mike. On Tuesday, November 25th, the DAV, along with Town of Swampscott, is having their second annual Mental Health Summit at Swampscott High School. We're going to begin the program at 6 p.m. with pizza and drinks. And at 6.30, we're bringing in experts to talk about both veterans' mental health issues and teen mental health issues. We're partnering with the Swampscott school system because the DAV, Disabled American Veterans, is a service organization, and we see gaps and we try to fill those gaps. And on the North Shore, there's a gap for mental health issues with veterans and teens.

So we're bringing in experts with resources to help people learn about what they can do about mental health issues, suicide prevention, and substance abuse, the three main issues that affect veterans and teens in Swampscott. So I hope you can all attend. Once again, it's Tuesday, November 25th, 6 p.m., at Swampscott High School. It's our second annual Mental Health Summit, and hopefully next year we're going to even expand it to make it a weekend retreat for Swampscott veterans and teens. Last year, we crawled a little with the first annual. This year we're walking a little, and next year we're going to be running.

We're going to bring the issues of mental health out of the shadows and right to the forefront because too many veterans are committing suicide. Too many veterans have substance abuse issues. Too many veterans are depressed and suffer from PTSD.

And I know we're not going to solve all the problems, but we're going to begin. So I hope you can all attend. Thank you.

Thank you. And in closing, I just want to say one thing. Go Navy, beat Army.

[Speaker 1] (23:34 - 25:08)
I think that transmission came and garbled what he meant to say was go Army, beat Navy. And I don't see Bill here, but I want to acknowledge from American Legion Post 57, Officer John DiPietro is here. Thank you very much for being with us here today representing American Legion Post 57.

The next part of the program is the Medley of Service Songs. So we're going to ask our veterans and any family members and loved ones who want to stand up when their service song is played to please stand if you can. If you can, please raise your hand.

The United States Army. The United States Navy.

[Speaker 9] (25:47 - 25:49)
The United States Marine Corps.

[Speaker 1] (26:11 - 26:25)
Happy birthday.

[Speaker 7] (26:28 - 27:13)
The Air Force. The Coast Guard.

[Speaker 1] (27:50 - 28:36)
Thank you so much. Thank you for participating in that. That's awesome.

Thank you, guys. Dave Edmonton reminded me. I don't know if anyone's heard.

It's the 249th birthday of the Marine Corps as of yesterday. So happy birthday, Marines. That's one thing you never hear Marines talk about is the Marine Corps.

With that in mind, our next speaker is no stranger to the town of Swampscott. Anyone who's been to any of the incredibly moving and powerful events honoring the sacrifice and service of Captain Jennifer Harris is familiar with Mr. Alex Panos. Alex, please, is going to come up and say a few words about the meaning of Veterans Day.

Thank you, Alex.

[Speaker 4] (28:52 - 32:33)
Everybody, I'm glad to be here, and I'm honored to be here in front of all these fine gentlemen. I just want to keep this light. In 1958, I graduated from Watertown High School.

In 1958, all the recruiters came to our high school and tried to get us to sign up. And I went to the Army. No exaggeration.

Air Force, Navy. Then I went to the Marine Corps. Now, the Army was promising me this.

The Navy was promising that. Coast Guard. I got all these nice promises what I would be if I joined.

I went to the Marine, and he looked me in the eye and he said, All I can promise you is hard work. And I said, I'll take it. From there, upon graduation, by the way, I forged my mother's signature because I didn't want to give her a heart attack to get in.

So I got sworn in at the Fargo Building. Everybody's familiar with the Fargo Building. That's my age.

And shipped out to Paris Island. The first day I got there, I knew that I was in trouble. The shit came flying, and it just kept hitting us in the face.

After three months there, we became Marines, and we learned brotherhood. We learned support of each other. We learned to sew.

We learned to wash, dry, shine, and kill. All of that. So when Veterans Day comes around, I think of all my buddies that are not here with me anymore.

I'm outliving them all. I'm going to. And I just get a good feeling that they're in good place in heaven, in Valhalla, and I honor them.

I honor you. And Veterans Day started as Armistice Day. It moved to Veterans Day, as Mike said, in the 50s under Eisenhower.

And it's been that way ever since, and it will continue for as long as we live, and the honor will be carried on by our youngins. We've got to get more young people to serve. We've got to get more young people to understand what this country is all about.

Young people seem to not get the message en masse. I see all these young scouts out here, and I'm very proud of them. We need more of that.

Our youngins need to know service to our country is very important. With that, I honor you. Thank you so much for allowing me to speak and simplify.

[Speaker 1] (32:43 - 33:31)
Thank you, Alex. I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations on forgery is passed. I think you're doing well.

But thank you again for those powerful words. I think that'sóthere probably isn't a veteran that doesn't have a story like that, and I think for everyone here today, please, not just over the weekend, but when you're with a veteran, ask them about it. Ask them things thatóyou'd be surprised what you get.

Sometimes weóit takes me a half hour to say hello, but some veterans aren't that way. But when you ask them what's going on, they might tell you something, especially as a family member, that you'll be able to pass on to the next generation, which is the whole point. With that in mind, I'd like to call up from Boy Scout Troop, Swamp Scout Boy Scout Troop 53, Jackson Gateland, to read the poem, Freedom Isn't Free.

[Speaker 6] (33:42 - 34:47)
Thank you. Freedom is not free, by Kelly Strong. I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered 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.

He'd stand out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil.

How many mothers' tears. How many pilots' planes shot down. How many died at sea.

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves. No, freedom isn't free. I heard the sound of taps one night, when everything was still.

I listened to the bugler 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 isn't free. Thank you.

[Speaker 1] (34:57 - 37:49)
Can I get another round of applause for Jackson Gateland for that? Thank you so much. Now we come to what I really think is the heart of this program, really what makes it special, is a presentation by Aaron Delisio and children from the Swampscott Elementary School with gifts for our veterans.

Again, from the students from Swampscott Elementary School, and there's also some cards in there. From the integrated pre-K up at the middle school, which I'm a little biased. My son's a student there, but I stole his.

Thank you. One more time. I know I keep saying, round of applause for the students from the Swampscott Elementary School and the Swampscott Integrated Pre-K Program up at the middle school.

Thank you for putting that together. As we move to close today's program, I want to ask you all to join me in a moment of silence. Please rise.

A moment of silence for those for whom we've lost.

[Speaker 10] (38:10 - 38:13)
Thank you. Please be seated.

[Speaker 1] (38:21 - 38:43)
I hear a lot of grunting when people are sitting back down, so that's my... It's starting now, man, that's my problem. That's why I'm standing up and you don't see me sitting down.

But with that, I guess that's a hint for me to shut up. I want to say thank you to the veterans that are here today, most importantly. One more time, ladies and gentlemen, the veterans of Swampscott.