By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
To the sound of the Colonial Pipers Bagpipe Band playing “God Bless America,” residents gathered at Barrows Veterans Memorial Park to honor the nation’s fallen service members.
The ceremony blended patriotic music, historical context and personal remembrance as veterans and elected officials came together to reflect on the sacrifices for the freedoms Americans enjoy today.
Speakers emphasized that Memorial Day is not simply a celebration of military service, but a solemn recognition of sacrifice and loss.
“We gather here today for something sacred,” Veterans Services Director Scott Smith told the crowd during North Attleborough’s annual Memorial Day ceremony on Saturday, May 23. “For 250 years, the brave have stood in the gap to defend the Constitution and we are here to ensure their service is never forgotten.”
Massachusetts state Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Foxboro) called Memorial Day “one of the few days that asks us to slow down,” urging attendees to reflect on the cost behind the nation’s freedoms.
“Today is specifically for those who gave everything — for the young women and men who never got to go home, for the empty seats at dinner tables that never stopped feeling empty,” Feeney said.
He encouraged residents to treat remembrance as an ongoing responsibility rather than a passive act.
“Memorial Day asks of us not only if we remember them,” Feeney said, “but if we’re living in a way that’s worthy of them.”
State Rep. Adam Scanlon (D-North Attleborough) reflected on the visible and invisible wounds carried by veterans and military families long after combat ends.
“Many veterans have lost their lives because of unseen scars,” Scanlon said. “Those lives matter too.”
Town Councilor Andrea Slobogan focused her remarks on the lives behind the names engraved on local memorials.
“People laughed, dreamed, loved their families and had plans for lives they never got to live,” Slobogan said. “That’s exactly why days like today matter so much.”
The ceremony featured performances by the North Attleborough High School band and Bishop Feehan High School chorus students, whose rendition of “Hallelujah” prompted quiet singalongs from portions of the crowd.
Service and sacrifice
While speakers reflected on the nation’s history of military sacrifice, veterans in attendance carried memories of that service firsthand.
Among them was 103-year-old World War II veteran Caster “Cas” Salemi, North Attleborough’s oldest living WWII veteran, who served in the Army’s 251st Field Artillery Battalion during campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines.
“I thought it was very well done,” Salemi said after the ceremony. “I thought (Town Manager) Borg’s speech was most impressive.”
Salemi, originally from New York and a North Attleborough resident since 1999, recalled how military service united men from vastly different backgrounds.
“I was in a unit where there were nine New Yorkers, and the rest were from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida,” he said. “Some couldn’t read, some couldn’t write, some never wore shoes.”
“But training gave us a chance to know each other and depend on each other for our actions in the war,” he added. “You form a camaraderie that’s never duplicated.”
Now approaching his 104th birthday in June, Salemi said the bonds formed during wartime stayed with him long after the conflict ended.
“You miss them when the war is over,” he said. “None of my outfit is alive today.”
Nearby, Desert Storm veteran Lt. Col. Gary Zimmer of the 82nd Airborne Division reflected on both his own military career and the generations of service within his family.
“I served with a lot of great men in Desert Storm,” Zimmer said. “A lot of people were willing to defend the nation, and that’s a great thing.”
Zimmer enlisted in Boston as an E-1 before eventually becoming an Army officer through Officer Candidate School. His wife’s father also served during WWII and is memorialized in town, while his son later served in Afghanistan.
“I was proud to wear the uniform and defend the nation,” Zimmer said.
Zimmer, now a member of the local VFW, said North Attleborough has consistently honored veterans in meaningful ways.
“You couldn’t ask for better, really,” he said. “They’ve always done a really nice job. Look at all of the memorials they’ve put up here.”
‘A day of accounting’
Originally scheduled keynote speaker Lt. Gen. John Broadmeadow, USMC (Ret.), was unable to attend because of a death in the family. In his place, Town Manager Michael Borg — himself a retired Army colonel with nearly 30 years of military service — delivered a speech tracing the cost of freedom across generations of American conflict.
“This is not a day off. It’s a day of accounting,” Borg said. “We come here today to count what’s been paid so we can be here today.”
Borg spoke of wars spanning from Lexington and Concord to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, repeatedly returning to one question for the audience: “Would you answer the call?”
The ceremony closed with the sound of bagpipes carrying across the park as attendees paused to stop at monuments or shake the hand of a veteran to give thanks for their service.
“They were ordinary people who made an extraordinary decision,” Borg said of the men and women he served beside. “Every name on every memorial represents someone who kept their end of the agreement. They did their part, gave their last, full measure, and the only question left is, ‘Will we do ours?’”