For former Marine George McMasters Memorial Day gives him mixed feelings, and is a time when he can remember his compatriots who were lost in battle.
The Watertown resident spoke during the Memorial Day Ceremony at Victory Field, held after Monday’s Memorial Day Parade.
“I have mixed feelings. It’s kind of a sad day for me,” McMaster said. “My first combat tour in Ramadi (Iraq), we lost 83 men killed and 600 wounded. In Afghanistan, we lost 25 killed and 50 wounded, but for me I didn’t have time to mourn them then. But on Memorial Day I truly mourn them.”
While the holiday is filled with parties, barbecues, and celebrations with families and friends, McMaster said it is important to recall those who sacrificed their lives serving their country.
“The Americans we honor today gave up all of it — not only their lives, but the years that would have followed, the families they might have raised, the future they might have known, the quiet moments they would never see, because they were willing to sacrifice everything generations they would never know have lived and will continue to live in freedom,” McMasters said. “And so today we remember them not only with gratitude but with humility.”
City Council President Mark Sideris thanked the veterans who attended the ceremony, and those who lost their lives.
“It’s an honor for me every year to be able to come here and thank them for what they did for us,” Sideris said. “And current veterans, thank you for your service. And I see some potential future veterans. It’s an honor for us who haven’t served in the military to be able to do this, and thank you very much for what you did for our country and your families and the sacrifices that you made.”
Typically, the Memorial Day Parade and ceremony are organized by the City’s Veterans Services Officer (VSO), but currently Watertown does not have one, so Human Services Director Jenna Bancroft filled in. Leo Diaz, an Army veteran and junior vice commander of Watertown’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1105, thanked Bancroft, saying that “I would like to personally thank Jenna Bancroft for a wonderful job this year. She got thrown in the fire, and I think we should give her a round of applause.”
As the City begins its search for a new VSO, Air Force veteran and VFW Post 1105 member Dawn Slaven said the veterans groups in town want someone focused on veterans’ needs.
“Initially they were going to try to combine the VSO position with the Disability Coordinator. We found out very quickly that’s not going to work.” Slaven said after the ceremony. “The VSO needs to be a full-time position, and so with the new recruiting actions, they are splitting up the positions again. So we’re very happy about that.”
Diaz said that many veterans, especially those who recently left the military, do not know they can get services right away.
“One of the biggest things is when you get out of the military, no one tells you, go to the VA (Veterans Affairs), go to the VA Hospital, sign up, get in this system. No one tells you that,” Diaz said following the event. “I tell my son — he’s about to get out of the Navy in a few months — I said, if you cough or do anything, you need to let him know, because if you get my age and you start to hurt, no one’s gonna tell you, you should have gone in the VA.”
Veterans can qualify for many different services and programs, Slaven said, including state benefits, federal benefits, disability, and more.
“These are all things that the VSO can help people one, learn about, and then two, start the application process,” Slaven said.
She added that problems that arrive later in life can be covered by veterans benefits, if you are part of the system.
“We’re finding that a lot of these ailments that happen later in life actually are linked back to trauma or different experiences you had in the military,” Slaven said. “My grandfather, who fought in World War II and was a POW (prisoner of war), he ended up needing a quadruple bypass later in life, and they tied the stress that happened to his heart to when he was a POW.”
To find out more about veterans services, go to https://watertown-ma.gov/343/Veterans-Services, call the Director of Human Services Jenna Bancroft, at 617-972-6483 ext. 12118 or email Jenna Bancroft at jbancroft@watertown-ma.gov
