Belmont Holds Annual Memorial Day Ceremony Honoring Fallen From Seven Wars

BELMONT — May 26, 2025 — Belmont marked Memorial Day with a full ceremony and parade honoring fallen residents from seven conflicts, from the Civil War through the War on Terror. Veterans Service Officer Bob Upton organized the event with support from more than a dozen town departments, veterans posts, scout groups, and the Belmont High School Marching Band; this year marked the first time the town's veterans education outreach extended to Belmont Hill School. Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dion delivered the principal address, emphasizing the 80th anniversary of V-E and V-J Days, the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and the 75th anniversary of the Korean War's end, and citing the October 2024 death of Navajo code talker John Kinzel at age 107 as a thread connecting living memory to World War II. A Governor's proclamation signed by Maura T. Healy, Kimberly Driscoll, and William Francis Galvin formally designated May 26, 2025, as Memorial Day in Massachusetts. Vietnam veteran Joe Henneberry led the reading of Belmont's fallen, with Gold Star families including the Ray and Curtis families acknowledged by name from the podium. The 2024 Voice of Democracy recipient, Belmont student Eva Cohen, offered impromptu remarks: "It's all thanks to the people who lay their lives down so we can have these things."